PNE star focused on job ahead

The Lilywhites collected 10 points from the 15 on offer since October’s break.

And there is a determination among the players to keep the points coming when action resumes.

This is the last international break until late March, with four months of unbroken action ahead.

Midfielder Gallagher told the Evening Post: “It was good to finish on a high before the break with the win against Rotherham.

“If you lose before a break, it makes for a long couple of weeks before your next game.

“We’ve experienced that before and the time does seem to drag.

“I think we’ve done really well over the last month or so, we’ve really picked up after the slow start we made.

“October’s results and the Rotherham win last week, were very good in particular.

“Yes, we had a difficult time at Newcastle in the EFL Cup and were heavily beaten.

“But at home against them in the league a few days later, it was much closer and we should have got something out of it.

“We approached the game at Rotherham in the right manner.

“On paper, it might have looked an easier game than some of the previous ones because of their league position.

“They had a new manager in place and it could have gone wrong had we not had the right mentality.

“We put in a good display, the two young lads up front scored with headers in the first half and we went from there.”

PNE start up after the break with back-to-back home games against Wolves and Burton.

Gallagher hopes the Wolves clash is not a case of deja-vu in terms of their newly-appointed manager Paul Lambert.

“Last year, Paul Lambert’s first game in charge of Blackburn was against us here and they won,” said Gallagher.

“This will be his first as Wolves manager, so we don’t want the same thing to happen.

“Wolves and Burton are two big home games for us and then we are into December when things get really busy.”

After the two home games, North End hit the road to face Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Tickets are now on sale for that game, with PNE given an initial 1,000 allocation.

Prices are rather steep, with adults £33, 65s and over and Under-21s £23.

Under-17s are £15, under-11s £10 and under-5s £5.

l The PNE Education and Community Trust is offering a free football project in the city.

The Premier League Kicks Programme will see coaches from the trust deliver coaching sessions in deprived areas.

The newest session starts today at West View Leisure Centre, with participants given free tickets for the Burton game on November 26.

It is 6pm-7pm for eight-14 years old and 7pm-8pm for children aged 15 and above.