It’s the 76th minute and Milutin Osmajić stands on the touchline, ready to come on and looking to make an impact for his side.
Drawing 1-1 at home to Huddersfield Town, the Lilywhites were wanting to build on Will Keane’s 53rd-minute equaliser from the spot to go on and win the game in their bid for a Play-Off spot.
With a striker coming off the bench, you’re always looking towards them to influence the game, however no one could predict what was to come.
In the 84th minute, former Terrier Duane Holmes sent a brilliant low ball in towards the front post, and there was Osmajić to sweep beyond Lee Nicholls in goal.
That got the Deepdale crowd up – especially those in the Town End who had already seen their Montenegrin striker score five times at their end previously.
They were back on their feet just three minutes later as Milly soon found himself one-on-one with Nicholls, and he showed an immense amount of calmness to slot into the bottom corner to all but seal a crucial three points.
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He wasn’t done there, though. Fellow summer signing Mads Frøkjær found the forward in a similar position to that of his first strike of the evening, and again he came up with a clever finish to cap off what was a quite remarkable seven-minute hat-trick.
In doing so, Osmajić became the first PNE player since Simon Makienok in September 2016 to score a treble, and the first to take home the match ball in a regular league match since April 2015, when Joe Garner scored three against Swindon Town at Deepdale.
Club statistician Martin Atherton has been digging even deeper into the history books and incredibly it’s not the quickest hat-trick scored by a PNE player, with Brian Godfrey having done so in five minutes in a 9-0 win over Cardiff City in 1966.
Milutin, who joked his English was “so bad” when he first joined the club, spoke to club media following full-time and gave his reaction to an incredible evening.
He said: “I’m very happy. In seven minutes, [to score a] hat-trick, I’m so happy.
“I want goals. I score one goal, in my head I want one more. I score the second, I want one more.
“I’m very happy because this is my first hat-trick for Preston and I’m so happy for this.
“This is a big three points. Saturday is a big game, and this team needs a win. I think this group is very good with good players. I think for me we play for Play-Offs.”
