Exclusive Connor Simpson PNE column

That is probably the best ground in the division with a lot of history and tradition, so to play there – however briefly – was really good.

I wasn’t expecting to get on at that stage of the game but Tom Barkhuizen got a knock and was struggling a bit.

Everything happened so quickly from there and I was just told to get ready to go on, I didn’t have time to think about anything.

During the game I had been warming-up and that itself was an experience in front of so many people, it was something I wasn’t really used to.

When I got on the pitch and went up front, I was near to John Terry who was in the centre of Aston Villa’s defence.

That was a bit surreal as I had grown up watching him on TV playing for England and Chelsea and there I was on the same pitch as him.

Going through my head was the thought, ‘Imagine if the ball comes into the box and I actually score’.

That would have been a dream come true but there was not much time left and the final whistle soon went.

I had travelled with the Preston squad a couple of times to games as the 19th or 20th man but Tuesday night was the first occasion that I had made the bench.

It was two hours before kick-off that I found out I was a substitute, there was a 
20-man squad and I was lucky enough to be involved.

Being around the senior players and seeing how it is all done on a matchday, was a great experience.

I’ve been at Preston for about six weeks now and I’m really enjoying it, every day has been a great experience.

The training is a lot faster and a lot tougher than I was used to but slowly I’ve been getting used to it and slowly I’m getting better as the weeks go by.

It is the speed which we play at which is the really big difference.

The other lads are great, always encouraging me and passing on a bit of advice.

If I make a mistake, they will just tell me to forget about it and not let it worry me.

Having moved down here, I’m staying in a hotel at the moment – Billy Bodin is also there.

I have been looking at a few places around here and hopefully will get my own place next month.

Moving to a new city and managing on my own will be good for my development and learning.

My move here happened quite quickly, I was aware there was interest but I didn’t know how serious that interest was until I got the phone call to say that Preston wanted to sign me.

I came down to sign and the club were different class with me.

The manager just told me to work my hardest and aim to improve as a player, learn from what I was doing.

He warned that it might take some time for me to push on but just to keep working.

Preston have got a lot of young players who they have developed.

I’ll be trying to follow in the footsteps of someone like Jordan Hugill, who did so well here and developed into a top player who is now playing in the Premier League.

He’s from the same part of the country as me and has done well for himself.

Something like that takes a lot of hard work and the better I can get now, the better I will be in the future.

I suppose that one thing people notice me for is my height – I’m just under 6ft 6in at the moment.

I’ve always been quite a tall lad for my age and what I want to do now is start to fill out a bit more.

After the brief run-out at Aston Villa, hopefully I can be involved again in the squad against Ipswich this weekend.

It is a case of doing well in the training sessions and seeing what happens from there.

My background in the game came on Teesside.

I’m from a town called Guisborough which is near Middlesbrough.

I played for a local side called Boro Rangers from the age of nine.

During my time there when I was 12 and 13, I had a couple of years training at Middlesbrough’s academy.

After that they were still monitoring me but I ended up going to Hartlepool and joining them part-way through the Under-16s.

I was in the first-year of my scholarship there when I got a call-up to the first-team squad.

It is a shame what is going on at Hartlepool because it is such a good club.

To see them going through their difficulties is tough and hopefully they can come back strongly from it.