Ben Whiteman interview: The vital ingredient Preston North End added this summer
PNE captain reflects on the start to the season and positivity around Deepdale
Preston North End captain Ben Whiteman firmly believes everything is in place for the club to have a strong season.
The Lilywhites sit fourth in the Championship table at the latest international break, with 16 points collected from nine games. PNE stayed up on the final day of the previous campaign after a late dart towards the drop. Now, manager Paul Heckingbottom has overhauled the squad and is pushing Preston to challenge.
While North End’s number four - who has started every league game so far - is very much looking forward, he remains adamant that Preston’s performances across 2024/25 were not relegation threatened worthy. The feeling around Deepdale now is very different, though, and Whiteman is embracing it.
“Yeah, me and the manager had this conversation towards the back end of the year,” said Whiteman. “The manager sort of said the changes he's going to make and it's definitely come off. I think pre-season was a massive part of it, getting the lads in nice and early. The manager made it fun; he’s made it a fun place to be.
“He's brought some good people in, in Jason and Lids. They've come in and helped as well. So, yeah, there's a feel good vibe in the place as well. Obviously, the new sponsor that we've got, SpudBros, they've come in and sort of lit the place up as well. So, yeah, the club's a massively exciting place to be at the minute. Long may it continue.”
It seems an appropriate moment to reflect on the midfielder’s time at the club to date. Whiteman arrived as hot property in January 2021, from Doncaster Rovers, and has been a regular in Preston’s midfield ever since. He has always appeared to enjoy life at North End, though circumstances haven’t always been plain sailing. There have been up-and-down times under different managers but right now feels as encouraging as ever.
“Yeah, it's been quite strange, definitely,” said Whiteman. “Obviously, Alex (Neil) was coming towards the end. He obviously lost a lot of his players, which is fair enough, and brought a lot of players in, in that January. Frankie (McAvoy) obviously came in, did well for the back end of the season and it sort of petered out.
“And yeah, Ryan's time here was very up and down, I think, from a supporter's point of view and Ryan's point of view. But again, I think if you look at the position where Ryan finished, it's one of them... what do you want? Then the manager (Heckingbottom) has come in and been fantastic as well. I know it didn't look that way at the back end of the season and rightly so, in terms of the fans being disappointed.
“But in terms of the performances, it wasn't as bad as everyone made out. I understand everyone's got their own opinion but we just couldn't either get over the line. There was something that would go in, or something would go against us in terms of maybe a decision. This season it’s gone for us. Dan's (Iversen) made some fantastic saves and we've put the ball in the net at the other end.”
On a personal note, Whiteman shrugs off any suggestion of having added fire in his belly heading into the season. The same goes for feeling more confident on the pitch, regardless of whether he looks it. One aspect which has been vital for him, though, is a full pre-season.
“Definitely,” said Whiteman. “Looking on my past, probably three years, I've had injuries going into it. Once you are in a game, people will say how big pre-season is. The manager has come in, got us fighting fit and I'm definitely seeing the benefits of it.”
The 29-year-old - who recently became a father for the first time - highlighted the added athleticism within PNE’s squad, when speaking to BBC Lancashire. A keen student of the game and huge football fan in general, Whiteman believes those levels have rocketed in recent years.
“I think so, yeah,” said Whiteman. “The big thing for me is when the Premier League boys come and you watch some of them - they're absolute units. If you look at our team, in wide areas especially, you have Pol and Thierry who’ve started the season fantastically well. They're athletic and you need that, you need legs.
“If you don't, you're going to struggle, I think. Thierry's got that rawness where you don't know what he's going to do but then he'll either score, or put it on a plate for someone else. If you look at the teams that get promoted, every single one of them has got athleticism and you need it right the way through the team.”
On those Premier League opponent experiences, he added: “I think you can set up tactically as best as possible; you look at the top boys, at the top end of the pitch, they're just monsters. And, they're technically good as well. That's why they're playing in probably the best league in the world.
“The biggest one was Arsenal for me when they came, and I saw Nwaneri play. I cannot believe how old he is, but he was the best player on the pitch by a mile and he was strong as an ox at that age as well. That's the biggest difference. I think the way that football's going, it's becoming a massively transitional game and you need to be able to run. And if you don't, you'll struggle.”