Graham Burke wants to kick on after getting off mark for Preston North End in Carabao Cup win

Graham Burke hopes that his goal in Preston's Carabao Cup win over Morecambe is a sign that he is up-and-running as a Lilywhites player.
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After being an unused sub on the opening day against Queen Park Rangers, Burke got half an hour of action last Saturday at Swansea.

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The Irishman’s first start came on Tuesday night with him on target with PNE’s third goal in the 3-1 victory.

Preston North End's Graham BurkePreston North End's Graham Burke
Preston North End's Graham Burke

Earlier he played his part in the second goal scored by Louis Moult.

“It was brilliant to get the win and top it off with the goal,” said Burke.

“Tuesday night was my home debut and overall it was pretty good.

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“I hope it was a sign that I’m settling in well and my aim is to push on from here.

“It was a good game to play in against Morecambe, we controlled the first half but they scored on the stroke of half-time.

“When we came out for the second half we knew we had to start again, stop Morecambe coming back into the game.

“The aim was to score more goals and I was pleased to get myself a goal.”

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Former Shamrock Rovers man Burke kept a cool head for his 58th minute strike.

Taking Moult’s pass to the right of goal, he worked the ball back on to his left foot to hammer a shot into the roof of the net from close range.

Burke said: “As the ball came across to me, I assessed where the defenders were and judged they were going to rush out to try and block me.

“One of them started to slide towards me, so I moved the ball inside on to my left foot and then put my laces through it.

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“It was good to see the ball go in, it was a nice moment I’ve got to say.

“Later on I should have scored a second goal to make it 4-1 when I got one-on-one but I couldn’t capitalise.

“I’ll take the one goal for now and hopefully get some more as we go on.”

Burke arrived at Preston at the end of June as Shamrock Rovers’ leading scorer with 13 goals in the League of Ireland.

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Seen primarily by North End boss Alex Neil as a No.10, Burke played on the right hand side of the attack against Morecambe.

“I wasn’t really playing as a right-winger, my job was to try and get into pockets of space,” said Burke.

“On the other side of the pitch Brandon Barker was running at the full-back.

“Myself and Brandon are completely different types of player in that respect, even though we were both playing in wide areas.

“Brandon is an out-and-out winger but I have a different way of getting into games in that I’ll tuck in.

“It doesn’t matter where I play, I’ll do it to the best of my ability.”