Freddie Woodman is looking forward to celebrating the “amazing” Gentry Day tradition again this weekend.
Preston North End will mark the annual occasion on Saturday at Vicarage Road, which sees fans wear Bowler hats and suits as they remember all those lost in the previous 12 months and years gone by.
Having experienced it for the first time last season at the Riverside, Freddie has enjoyed getting to learn about the unique tradition.
He said: “I think especially when I first came to the club I didn’t know too much about the day and what it meant.
“Being here for my second season now and learning about the day and how important it is to the fans and remembering those that have sadly passed away, it’s massive.
“At Middlesbrough last year we didn’t get a result, but the fans were brilliant and it was a nice turnout. It was nice to remember the people we’ve lost.
“It is very unique and it’s very this club. This club has amazing traditions, it’s steeped in history and that’s one of them.
“It is amazing when you’re playing and you look over. It’s such a nice thing for the fans and the club to do to remember those we’ve lost.”
There is also the small matter of a football match to be played, and at this late stage of the season, there’s still plenty to play for.
North End are currently five points outside of the Play-Off spots with seven matches still to play, and results elsewhere went in the Lilywhites’ favour on Easter Monday, when Ryan Lowe’s side lost out to Birmingham City.
Freddie added: “Monday was disappointing, of course. We’d have liked to have picked up some points. You come in after the game and you see the results, it’s heartbreaking really but this is the league that we’re in.
“We have to pick ourselves up and go again. There’s not a better place to do it than Watford on Saturday. We have to try and win the game, and we have to try and pick up as many points as we can before the end of the season and have a right push.
“We don’t want the season just fizzling out. We need to have a right push now and I feel like everyone’s on board. Everyone knows what we need to do, and I’m confident we can do that.”
In the push for a place in the top six, Freddie and North End have kept four clean sheets in the previous six matches, which the No.1 admitted has taken a lot of hard work.
That defensive solidity has been in conjunction with goals at the other end, and PNE have now taken 24 points from their last 13 matches.
Freddie said: “I think since the turn of the year we’ve been in a really good place, picking up a good amount of points.
“I feel like our performances are good. We’re scoring a lot of goals, keeping clean sheets, so I think we’re in a good place and it’s important to remember we’re not going to win every game.
“We have to continue trying to pick up maximum points and of course we’ll look to do that on Saturday and hopefully the results elsewhere go for us.”
