Ryan Lowe felt his Preston North End side had the support of the away fans from the minute they arrived at Vicarage Road, ahead of the goalless draw with Watford.
North End travelled to Hertfordshire following a midweek point at home to Coventry City, with both Ched Evans and Troy Parrott providing plenty of attacking intent in a largely dominant first half against the Hornets.
The hosts grew into the latter stages of the game, but neither side could break the deadlock and the spoils were shared after an entertaining clash.
Speaking after the game, Ryan said: “I thought we were fantastic - especially in the first half.
“Second half we had to adapt a little bit because they made a few changes, but I thought the lads were excellent from start to finish.
“I asked them to be a little bit more horrible than normal, in terms of out of possession, and with the ball being a bit more ruthless.
“Defensively we were solid, we were sound right from the front and created some good moments.
“There were two good moments which I felt we were hard done by but, again, we’ll have to watch it back and see what it was like, but they were fantastic from start to finish.”
Despite the distance and need for alternative travel arrangements, with Preston Station being closed, the away end held an impressive number of the North End faithful who came to back their boys in fine voice.
While there was unfortunately no goal for them to cheer, the chanting could be heard across Vicarage Road and it is something that the manager was eager to acknowledge.
Ryan said: “You see the fans and you see them clapping us walking in.
“We’ve come out to the pitch beforehand, there were a few in, probably 30 or 40 people waving and they were fantastic.
“The Watford fans won’t like me saying it but I don’t care – we were loud and proud weren’t we today?
“They were right behind the group, so thank you again, safe travels back and it’s another point on the road.”