Ben Whiteman calls for Preston North End players and fans to stick together

The Lilywhites lost their third league game in a row on Tuesday night as Sepp van den Berg's own goal gave Huddersfeild Town all three points.

PNE are one of two sides in the division yet to register a point, after a defeat to Hull City on the opening day was followed with a loss to Reading.

Frankie McAvoy's men took the lead on the opening day before slumping to a 4-1 defeat, then losing 2-1 to Reading last Saturday.

There has been growing frustration within the PNE fanbase as the season as progressed, even at this early stage, but midfielder Whiteman has urged for unity.

He told the Lancashire Post: "That's what we want. They've paid their hard earned money, they go to work and graft to come and watch us play, so they've got every right to voice their opinion and what they think is right.

"For me, I want us all to stick together and get through the bad run together. Hopefully we can do that.

"I can understand their frustration but hopefully they see the positives in that performance compared to the previous two.

"We're on the right track and hopefully we can start winning football matches.

"We want the fans behind us, hopefully we can get that at Deepdale, even if it's from a scrappy goal.

"When we scored the first goal against Hull the roof came off and hopefully we can do that at the weekend and get the fans behind us."

PNE lost to Huddersfield without conceding a shot on target, the Terriers did hit the post but failed to test Iversen on any occasion.

North End did make their own chances, Ched Evans seeing a shot cleared off the line and Ben Whiteman firing from outside of the area into the 'keeper's arms.

For the Lilywhites' new no.4 it is about the players stepping up to the mark to build from the performance against Huddersfield, in which they had the better of the game.

He said: "It's a very tough one to take but it's about standing up and being called upon by the manager when things aren't going so well.

"It's about standing up as a team, standing up as an individual and sticking together. That is the main thing.

"We all need to stick together. The performance on Tuesday was definitely a building block on the previous two and if we can perform like that we're going to have more wins than losses.

"It's a challenge, life's a challenge and it's about standing up and being counted. I'm sure with the men that we've got in there and the leaders we've got in there we will definitely do that.

"We'll win more games than we'll lose with the characters we've got in the dressing room."

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