Alan Browne said while Preston North End won’t be getting carried away with the fantastic start to the season, he and his teammates are enjoying the ride for the time being.
It’s been an astonishing campaign so far for the Republic of Ireland international and his teammates, with 19 points racked up from just seven matches.
The latest of those – a 2-1 victory over Birmingham City – extended PNE’s winning run to an almost unprecedented six successive Sky Bet Championship games.
North End had to work hard on the night to come from behind against a Blues side who were playing well, especially in the early stages of the second half.
Browney said: “Some games are more comfortable than others. We’ve shown our quality in more games compared to tonight, but when it mattered we came up with two important goals and ultimately that’s won us the game, as well as our defending.
“When we get in front we’re confident that we’re not going to concede. We’ve got a terrific back five and the boys in front of them work their socks off to make sure nothing goes past.
“We’ve got giants at the back who put their bodies on the line and we’ve seen that again tonight. We always have to dig deep, and we’re more than happy to do that.
“We’re a really tight group, and there’s not many cliques. We’ve got great relationships with one another, with the staff as well. We’re all in it together.
“I think it’s just important to stay grounded and not get ahead of ourselves. It’s an unbelievable start – there’s no denying that – but there’s an awfully long season ahead and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of ups and downs.
“Injuries and suspensions will play their part and we need everyone to be ready when called upon. We can’t get too high, but we’re definitely enjoying the ride so far.”
The skipper played a key role on the night, taking the corner which was headed into the back of his own net by visiting midfielder Krystian Bielik in the 51st minute.
He then picked the ball up in midfield, slotting it through the legs of Ivan Šunjić before playing Milutin Osmajic through, and the Montenegrin forward smashed home for his first goal for the club.
Alan said: “I think I probably need to do that more as well as get goals myself because I still haven’t scored.
“I need to get that knack of scoring back in my game. It felt good to contribute to both goals because I think I easily could have been taken off at half-time again! I think I was probably lucky to stay on the pitch.
“But when I’m on there I want to create things and on the other end of things I want to get back defending and help out when we’re ahead in the game.”
That defensive solidity is something which North End are counting on at the minute to get themselves through games, and they’re certainly doing whatever it takes at the moment to come away with three points.
Browney added: “We know what we’re good at; we’re not a team of superstars.
“We need to work hard for each other, and that will be what we base our whole game off from now until the end of the season: our togetherness and fight.
“I think we have played well in games but today wasn’t one of them, and in the second half we found a way to win.
“It was a poor start to the second half but we got ourselves back in it and we found a way. That’s a good trait to have to keep winning games even when you’re not playing well.”