After netting a brace against Ipswich Town to reach double figures for the season, Will Keane admitted he’s got a secret goal target which he’s looking to hit.
The striker, who returned to PNE permanently in the summer following a loan move in 2015, is North End’s top scorer with 11 goals to his name.
Two of those came in the victory at home to the high-flying Tractor Boys, and with 16 games still to play there’s plenty of opportunity to add to his tally.
Will said: “I’ve got a target in my head, but I want to keep that to myself. The aim is to score going into every game and that’s what I believe I can do. That’s the intention.
“I’m really chuffed to get into double figures, but I want to keep moving forward and keep trying to add to my tally.”
The Republic of Ireland’s first of the day which opened the scoring at Deepdale wasn’t his sweetest strike of the season, having deflected in off defender George Edmundson.
Keano was, however, credited with the goal and then turned provider for the second, before sending PNE into the break with a three-goal lead courtesy of a nice finish after capitalising on the visitors trying to play out from the back.
Will said: “To be honest it’s something that we’ve worked on all week. I think with the information that we were given, we knew that if we set up well out of possession then we’d have chances.
“We knew they’d try and play out from the back, and we managed to pinch it a couple of times.
“Obviously it’s great when you work on things and you see it come to fruition. It’s paid off and it was such a great start.
“It was disappointing to concede a couple of goals, but we knew they’d pile on the pressure, and we were really glad to see it out.”
In beating Ipswich Town, who arrived at Deepdale with a chance to return to second, PNE became the first team outside of the top six to get three points against Kieran McKenna’s side.
Speaking after the game, Ryan Lowe said he wants to see that kind of belief from his players more often, and that was the message in the changing room.
“We know we’re capable of it,” shared Will. “I think we’ve shown that now with beating Leeds and Ipswich here and against some of the other top teams we’ve had really good performances. We know it’s in there.
“We said in the changing rooms at the end that we’ve proven we can do it against this kind of opposition, but it’s just as important that we put in these performances next week and the week after.”