This is what Tony Mowbray had to say ahead of our travels to Deepdale...
SQUAD MENTALITY
"We did a whole pre-season together and we tried to gel the players together. I think generally it’s fine, the young players are still trying to adapt to the demands of playing in the Championship. I did have to stop training and pull everyone aside and say yes we did have a good season last year, but it didn’t just happen, there was a lot of hard work that went into it. I thought we worked hard against Ipswich, but Clarke and Roberts didn’t have their most productive games that match. But we are now going to Preston, which was funny enough the last away league game last season and it’s now the first away league game this season. We will try and repeat what we did last season, but this time we have slightly different personnel. We have to try and impose talent on the opposition and get the three points."
PREVIEWING PRESTON
"I think Preston are a really honest hard working team. They are well structured and have been playing three at the back, as well as three attacking players. Their wing-backs play high up and are very aggressive. I spent five and a half years at Blackburn Rovers, which is less than ten miles from Preston and we are very aware of what those games are like. Preston are very emotional and passionate about their football team, historically they were one of the giants of English football. So, whenever you go there you are in for a really tough game and I’m sure that will be the case tomorrow."
EARLY DAYS
"We’ve only played one league game and I thought the performance level was ok. We created enough chances to not lose that game, but we did. I think if you are five or six games down the line and you ask me the same question there will be a lot of pressure on it. This is our first away game and we were good away from home last season, so we will go into this game feeling confident knowing that we played some good stuff last week. I didn’t come away thinking that we had so much work to do, I thought build up play was good and there are plenty of positives. So, Preston will know that they are playing against a decent team and we know that Preston will give everything and be difficult to play against."
