'Very, very good' - Paul Heckingbottom on Preston North End's win over Charlton and Thierry Small's goal
PNE won 2-0 against Charlton Athletic on Saturday afternoon
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom was proud of his players after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic.
The Lilywhites finished on a high before the international break, with second half goals from Thierry Small and Daniel Jebbison earning the points. Small broke the deadlock against his former club before AFC Bournemouth loan man slotted home his first for PNE, with 10 minutes to go.
Post-match, Heckingbottom said: “We were really, really good today. Very dominant from start to finish and I just said to the players, if anyone's watched Charlton as much as I have and the staff have this season, they realise how impressive that is because they've given everyone a game - they've been handful for everyone.
“Today we were very, very strong. I'm really pleased with how we went about it because one of their two main threats, set plays, they've been very good from - and not only scored goals from, but also been a threat all season from set plays. They're also not bothered that they don't play many passes; they're very dangerous.
“Nathan sets his teams up well to press and try and win the ball and on that turnover, be really quick and try and score goals. With the ball, that's what impressed me today with us. We were still composed against a team set up to press. We got lots of things right so we always had a spare player and took that particular threat away from them.
“We got some good moments first half but we wanted to play even quicker second and try and find Lewis Dobbin earlier. The only way they could fix that was by releasing a centre-back and when they did that we could have Jebbo; or if they didn't fix it quick enough, we'd get the ball to Lewis.
“The things we spoke about in the week, the players did on the pitch. They carried it out and got the rewards. We were excellent. We were fantastic first half. Like I said, anyone who has watched Charlton has not seen them dominated like that, and that's credit to us because they're a handful.
“I know how Nathan approached the game against us; we were very, very good and we wanted more of the same. One thing you have to ignore is any anxiousness creeping in. The message was that if you feel it from anywhere, if there's noises, they're still going to try and play on the break.
“They're still going to be a threat and they'll have their moments because they're very good at it, but that can't change our approach. So, that’s another pleasing thing I felt from the players - how calm they were and how controlled they were.
“We want everyone to turn up at games like that. The players did, and we want the fans to as well so that's what's important. There's no gimmies in this league, at all. We've got no right whatsoever to be beating anyone. We've got to earn it and everyone's got to come and turn up and help us get over the line.”
Heckingbottom on Small and Jebbison
On his two goal scorers, Heckingbottom added: “I'm really glad he (Small) was involved in the game. We spoke to him a lot about it just being another game. Thierry's young, he's excitable, but we just wanted him to really focus on his role, what his job was and he went and did it.
“When you play against former clubs, the songs are sung about you and you're getting a bit of a stick, it's nice to get one over on them and Thierry will enjoy that. But he's keeping his feet on the ground, and he knows that he's just got to work hard for us. He (Jebbison) will be delighted.
“Ultimately, your centre forwards, you want them to score goals. That’s it, but for us and our team and our set-up, that's not the be all and end all. You've got to be a team player, you've got to contribute and he was picked to do a specific role today with his energy, his ability to stretch the game and create more space for Lewis - and he did that.
“But the fact he got his goal - and it was really good from Alfie and then Jebbo’s desire to get on the end of it, yeah, I'm delighted for him. He deserved it with the effort and energy he put in, he deserved his goal as well.”
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