Ben rues one-match ban

A yellow card in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle was his fifth booking of the season, triggering a one-game ban.

That will rule him out of the visit to Rotherham, the last game before the fortnight’s international break.

Pearson is no stranger to falling foul of referees – he joined PNE in January carrying the baggage of nine bookings from his time on loan with Barnsley.

The midfielder’s five cautions this term have come in eight games since forcing his way back into contention.

“I’m suspended for Rotherham this weekend unfortunately,” Pearson told the Evening Post.

“Probably a couple of the bookings could have been avoided – they were for dissent.

“It is up to me to learn from those mistakes and try and cut certain things out of my game.

“When I first signed here, I had nine bookings from being at Barnsley.

“I got through four games and then got the 10th.

“There are plenty of lads who can replace me – Paul Gallagher, DJ, Ben Pringle and Liam Grimshaw can all play there.”

Pearson has been one of North End’s best performers over the last few weeks.

Until mid-September, his only appearance of the campaign had come against Oldham in the League Cup.

The 21-year-old was handed a start at Bournemouth and made his first Championship appearance as a substitute in the 1-0 victory over Wigan in the following game.

He has started the last six league games and was named man of the match against Newcastle.

Said Pearson: “I have taken my chance after a tough first few weeks of the season.

“Being out of the team might have benefited me in the long run.

“It probably made me more determined to get back in, made me work a bit harder.

“I’ve enjoyed being back in the side – we have been on a great run of form.

“If we had taken a point on Saturday against Newcastle, it would have completed a great set of results in the league.

“I suppose losing that game takes the edge off a bit but we can still look back on recent results with a lot of pride.

“We deserved something from Newcastle. I thought we were the better team, apart from the 10-minute spell when they got their two goals.

“Not getting the penalty at the end was disappointing – it looked clear-cut.

“It wasn’t nice to lose but we can take plenty of heart from a positive performance.

“Our next game is against Rotherham and that will be the first time for five or six matches that we have not gone in as underdogs.

“The recent run of games came against sides up at the top of the table or had spent a lot of money.

“But this will still be a tough game and one we have to approach correctly.”