Duane Holmes is enjoying the early stages of life at Preston North End, saying he’s playing with a smile on his face at the moment.
After featuring just five times for Huddersfield Town in the first half of the year due to injury, Duane admitted when he signed at Deepdale in the summer that he was desperate to get back to his best.
The midfielder has turned out to be one of North End’s most-used players this campaign, with three goals and two assists in Championship football to show for it.
He said: “I’m enjoying it. I’m playing with a smile on my face. I’m playing with a bit of freedom.
“It’s nice putting the disappointment of the last two seasons being injured a lot behind me, and getting back to my rhythm is really nice.
“I think that’s down to the group as well. The group’s great. It’s a really easy dressing room to get along with.
“I’ve known the manager a long time so we had a very easy and honest chat when he rang me in the summer and I was very happy to get it done.”
North End’s No.25 had featured in every match so far this campaign until Tuesday’s trip to the Riverside where he was an unused substitute.
That was more to give the lively midfielder a rest during a hectic period, though, as opposed to being as a result of his performances.
Despite not featuring, Duane was just as disappointed with the result against Middlesbrough, and he’s looking forward to getting back to action on Friday against Queens Park Rangers.
Duane said: “We didn’t get to our levels. We’re disappointed with how we performed but we get the chance to go again on Friday and we’re happy we can get back on the pitch to put it right.
“You always want to play. You don’t want to sit on the sideline not able to help your team, but we knew at the start of the week that there was going to be rotation in the squad.
“Saturday, Tuesday, Friday is tough but we’re just happy we get the chance to put it right.”
Having featured almost 200 times in Championship action during his career, there aren’t too many in the PNE squad more experienced than Duane.
He’s been a part of teams who have really pushed towards the top end of the division, and he sees no reason why North End can’t do the same, so long as they can perform to a certain level each week.
“I think the teams that tend to do well find that consistency and keep it,” he added.
“I’ve spoken to you before and I’ve said that I’ve been in teams where we’ve done really well in this division and I think we’ve got just as much. It’s just about being as consistent as we can and bringing it every week.
“You can never predict anything in this league. I’ve been in this league a long time now and no one would have thought that our Huddersfield team would have done as well as we did.
“No one would have thought Luton were going to do what they did last year, so you never know.
“You always get that one team that everyone casts off and they come good, so hopefully that can be us.”