Ryan Lowe was left “over the moon” with his side’s performance in the 2-0 victory over Stoke City which extended the unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Two goals from Will Keane within six second-half minutes earned North End their fourth successive league victory to take them to the summit of the table.
The three points also means PNE have now made their best start to a league campaign since the 1928/29 season.
Reacting to the win, Ryan said: “I’m a little bit emotional at the minute. I thought the lads were fantastic.
“I can’t even play the game back in my head, I just know we were solid and resolute.
“They defended like trojans; they were fantastic. We had bodies on the line, didn’t have enough as much possession as we’d have liked, but who cares? It doesn’t matter.
“We tried to get the ball in their half a bit more and at half-time we made the change [taking off] Mads [Frøkjær] for Duane [Holmes], who was unlucky not to play.
“We needed a little bit more drive and creativity into the box, getting at their defenders, and lo and behold he gets a penalty.
“Keano smashed it in and we felt they’d get a little bit desperate in terms of pumping balls into the box and that’s what we’ve seen. It’s a fantastic win so listen, I’m over the moon. Buzzing.”
There were fantastic scenes when both goals were scored right in front of an away end holding almost 2,600 PNE fans.
The North End faithful were in full voice all afternoon, proudly letting the bet365 Stadium that “we are top of the league”.
Ryan shares in their delight, but as he has done throughout the campaign so far, he made clear that he and his players are not getting ahead of themselves at such an early stage.
The gaffer said: “We enjoy the moments but it’s gone after today. We have to move on.
“We’ve got a nice break. I’ve just said to the lads that, whatever we do, we’ll just make sure we have the break, rest and recover, do the right things and that’s what we’ll do.
“You’ve got to enjoy the moments with the fans as well, but we’re not getting carried away. Nowhere near it. There’s a long way to go.
“But when you have a start like we’ve had and Preston North End haven’t had one for so many years, then enjoy it.
“But we’re not getting carried away. We’ll knuckle down, we’ll go again, we’ll have a break and we’ll get back to work.”
The gaffer was also full of praise for the sold-out away end, who he celebrated in front of following the full-time whistle.
Ryan said: “They were fantastic, right the way through singing. Unbelievable.
“We can’t thank you enough. I was outside by our bus before the game and I heard them all coming in singing and I just felt this was going to be a special day for them, so I’m glad we’ve sent them home happy once again.”