EXCLUSIVE Josh Harrop Preston North End column: Not starting’s just part of the game

The last three games have seen me have to make do with a place on the bench after starting the previous five games.

There has been a bit of discussion among fans and I know the manager has had to field questions about his team selections – but that’s just the nature of the job.

Everybody will always question the manager about the team he’s picked after a loss, but rarely after a win.

As a player, when you get left out of the team it’s one of those things – you have to respect the manager’s decision and just make sure you are ready to play when asked.

You can only do as well as you can when you do play, but you just have to stay focused.

It is frustrating – there’s no question about that.

You want to play every game – especially when you feel like you are doing okay and are in good form, you feel like you just want to keep going.

But it’s a squad game and you have to understand that the manager might feel that someone else is better suited to a particular game.

You might not agree and sometimes feel that tactically you would be suited to a game, but the manager may think otherwise.

It can be hard to take, but you just have to stay professional and be ready when called upon to help the team.

Overall, I have been really pleased with my contribution so far to the team this season.

Coming back from such a bad injury like I suffered last season, I was keen to make up for lost time. I have scored eight goals so far, which is a pleasing return, and hopefully there is a few more to come before the end of the season.

It was disappointing to lose against Millwall last weekend – I came on midway through the second half and tried to affect things.

Watching from the sidelines, I thought we were dominant in the opening 20 minutes but couldn’t get that opening goal. They sort of stuck in it, kept grafting and they got a goal late on from a set-piece – that’s won them the game.

It was a hard one to take for us because with the way other results went, we would have moved up to third and stayed three points off Leeds United in second place.

But we can’t dwell on that now, we’ve just got to take every game as it comes and concentrate on getting the three points against Hull City at Deepdale this weekend.

It is so tight at the top in the Championship, a couple of wins and you can move up quite a few places.

People ask if you feel pressure as a player when you’re in this position, but I see it more as exciting.

It’s a kind of, ‘Let’s see what we can do as a team’. Pressure does not affect me in these situations, if anything, it makes me more focused.

Hull gave us a hiding at their place in November, beating us 4-0. That was probably our worst performance of the season, but they have got to come to our place now and with our home form, I fancy ourselves.

Hopefully we can put on a display and get the win which will set us up for some big games to come.