'Helped us' - Preston North End man explains new idea introduced by players this season

Preston North End defender Jordan Storey has explained the benefit of player-only meetings being introduced this season at Euxton.

The Lilywhites head to The Den this weekend to face Millwall, after losing deep into injury time of last Sunday's match at Leeds United. Despite the cruel defeat, Storey was keen to take the positives away from Elland Road - where a 94th minute Joel Piroe penalty downed Preston.

It's been a tough couple of months on the pitch for North End, with eight defeats, one draw and three wins from the last 12 league outings. In house, though, the squad have stayed honest with each other and together. Storey explained how captain Alan Browne, along with experienced head Greg Cunningham, have been leading open sessions.

"Yeah, just the players, to sort of have a catch-up," said Storey. "Maybe like a five game review, just to see where we are as a team and what we can improve on. I think they have been good and it has helped us as a group, to look at what we need to do better as a whole - as well as what we have done well. Fair play to the lads for sort of setting them up. I would say that, this season especially, it has been introduced. The seasons I have been here prior, we've never really done something like that. All the players have got an opinion and voice their opinions well. And it is just better that we are all on the same page, so I think it's benefitted us."

As for the current mood among the defenders, PNE's number 14 pinpointed the Bristol City victory as an important one for confidence levels. It's one clean sheet in eight games, but Storey believes there were enough encouraging signs on show in Yorkshire.

"I think we were fairly solid last weekend," said Storey. "Obviously it was a bit annoying to concede in the first few minutes, after such a great start. Then, in the final couple of minutes it was gutting to concede, but we are feeling confident at the moment. After the Bristol City result especially, it was nice to finally get a clean sheet again. It had been a while coming, but even though we lost against Leeds I think we are still confident. They created a few chances, but none of their shots were ones where you thought they should've scored."

At the other end, Storey enjoyed watching attackers Mads Frokjaer, Emil Riis and Will Keane cause Daniel Farke's side problems. The trio which sparked the win over Liam Manning's side all got the nod at Elland Road; Storey believes it could be a recipe for success moving forwards.

"Yeah, they are three good, creative players and they bring something different as well," said Storey. "Obviously, Mads is great on the ball and has great vision and skill. Emil has pace and power down the sides and Keano is great in the box isn't it? He sniffs out chances here and there and he can link up play as well, so it's a good dynamic. At the start of the season he was bagging them for fun. He obviously had the spell where he was out for a bit, which was a miss. But, it's good to have him back. He brings something different to the team and when he's in that box, you just have a feeling he is going to put the ball in the back of the net."