No panic for PNE, says Humphrey

Grant Ward’s first-half goal was enough to leave a lacklustre PNE second from bottom of the table heading into the international break.

The winger said: “It’s the beginning of the season.

“The gaffer and the coaching staff are very good at making sure there’s no panic.

“We’ll go into training next week and we’ll go again.

“He’ll get the boys’ heads right. He’s very good at that.

“We’ll all be disappointed now for three or four days but we’ll get it out of our system and go again.”

All four of North End’s defeats have come by a single goal making it all the more frustrating for all involved at Deepdale.

Humphrey however believes Simon Grayson’s side aren’t far from coming out on the right side of results more often than not, Preston having failed to replicate the performance that saw them see off Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road seven days ago.

He said: “We’re nearly there, we’re inches off it.

“Once things start clicking, as they did at QPR, people saw that we played really well, we’ll be fine.

“It’s just about getting that balance and that consistency now.

“We need to take it into every game we play like we did last season and I think we’ll be alright.”

PNE will have to wait for the chance to put things right on the field with the international break meaning they don’t play again until Barnsley visit Deepdale on September 10.

Humphrey said: “You’d kind of like a Tuesday game to go again quickly and get it out of your system.

“But we’ve had a lot of games lately so it will be nice for a few of the lads to get a rest and recharge.

“The next game we’ll all be ready to go.”

The 28-year-old Jamaican put Saturday’s defeat down to an off day as North End rarely looked like getting something out of the game after going behind to Ward’s fourth goal of the season on the quarter hour.

He said: “It was very frustrating.

“I think that our standards dropped a little bit from last week against QPR so all in all it was a bit of a disappointing result.

“We weren’t in their faces as much as we were at QPR.

“We were off the pace a little bit and that affected us a little bit.

“We weren’t our normal selves, the way we play, and we didn’t do what we do well.

“The boys are disappointed as are the coaching staff and everyone connected with the football club.

“We’ve got a bit of time now until the next game to gather some thoughts and work on a few things on the training ground and hopefully we can be better for the next game.”

There was little in a game low on chances and real quality as North End lost another tight encounter.

Humphrey said: “I think if we’d raised our game a little bit like we did at QPR we’d have won that game.

“Apart from the goal they scored and the lad going through and Anders (Lindegaard) comes out and saves it I can’t really remember them doing much.

“It was just one of those days where we weren’t on it and the better team won.”