Ahead of a three-game week, Ryan Lowe was full of praise for the attitude of his entire squad in training, especially those who haven’t featured much in recent matches.
North End will head to South Wales on Saturday to take on Cardiff City, before then returning home for a double header against Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers.
Ched Evans and Kian Best look likely to miss those fixtures, but Duane Holmes could return for next weekend’s Lancashire derby, while Jack Whatmough is pushing for a start now he’s back from injury.
Ryan said: “He’s been training very well, along with the rest of the lads. I must say this, the back-up group, and by that I mean the lads who haven’t been playing, and the lads who have been on the bench, their training standards are top notch.
“When the lads are recovering after games, them lads – the standard and the application and attitude has been different class, and I want that from them.
“I’ve told them that because they’ve got to be ready when called upon. Whether it’s an injury, an illness – whatever it may be – they’ve got to be ready.
“Noah [Mawene] and Jack, along with the rest of them, are in a good space at the moment and long may that continue because they’re going to be used at some point.
“Especially next week, we’ve got a three-game week so the squad will definitely be utilised.”
PNE go to the Welsh capital on the back of a thrilling victory over promotion-pushing Ipswich Town, while the Bluebirds secured three points on the road against Watford.
Erol Bulut’s side sit just a few places below North End in the league table, with the Lilywhites three points outside the top six.
Ryan said: “The lads will be feeling good. They’ve been in good spirits after a fantastic win against Ipswich Town, who are a good quality team.
“We’re coming up against a different type [of team] but similar type of formation and they try to play on the front foot.
“Going to South Wales, on their own patch, is going to be tough which we know, but we’re in good form.
“The results have been a lot better, and we want to try and continue that and get a bit of consistency for the remaining 16 games of the season.”
The last time these two met saw ten-man North End dealt two real sucker punches, as the Bluebirds scored twice late in added-time to turn the game on its head.
They’ve not quite been able to kick on since that point, though, but have added three new faces to the squad in recent weeks, including Premier League loanees Nat Phillips and Josh Wilson-Esbrand.
Ryan said: “They’ve made some additions in the January window, and the result at Watford away at the weekend is obviously going to give them a bit of belief and confidence, but we’ve got our own thing to worry about.
“Conceding late on and the way it was, towards the back end of the game and to lose the way we did, was disappointing so we’ll use that as our motivation because we were well in the game until them moments.
“We obviously had a sending off in that. We know it’s going to be a tough place to go. We know that going to South Wales to Cardiff is always tough, but if we can keep performing the way we’ve been performing then I’m confident we can get a result.”