Alfie Devine scored the winning goal at Pride Park for PNE on Saturday

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom was over the moon to see his side run out 0-1 winners at Derby County.

The Lilywhites clinched their first away victory, on a Saturday, since March 2024 thanks to a scintillating first half strike from Alfie Devine. The Tottenham Hotspur loan man scored his second goal of the campaign, from range, on 29 minutes.

PNE had opportunities to extend that lead, mostly in the first half, but one goal was enough as they showed heaps of grit and determination to see the points home. North End’s manager expressed his delight post-match.

“I've been happy with us throughout the season and, yeah, the players should be proud of themselves,” said Heckingbotom. “We showed, as you have to do in this league, everything again today. We passed the ball well, caused them problems - disappointed we couldn't capitalise a little bit more, but scored a fantastic goal.

“And then, as always happens in this league, if there's only one goal in it, everyone puts their body on the line to make sure that we got over the line as well. So, yeah, all round really good away performance.”

North End’s boss had said pre-match that he would learn a lot after the clash against John Eustace’s side. Heckingbottom felt the contrast between last season’s visit was clear to see. While it will be a big boost for the dressing room to get over the line in such an environment, Heckingbottom always had confidence it was in there.

“Yeah, do you know what? I spoke last season about an acceptance in certain situations at Preston,” said Heckingbottom. “I said about time of season, expectations. Looking back at the games through the summer and thinking about approaching things, you can't afford to tick games off because there might be an expectation that you get beat, or it's a tough game. So, it's another thing I want to change, and I'm really pleased with the approach of everyone, this week and today.

“And I've said many times, why can't we? We went away to Burnley last year with a better team, we went away to Sunderland with a better team. We were probably written off in those games but you go with the ferociousness, you know you're competing. You take that tenacity and quality into - no disrespect - teams who aren't top two. It's just a different mentality and approach.

“If you want to achieve, we've got to approach every game like that. It's all mental, but we cannot let a game pass us by. We just can't... what's the point? We can't let a game pass us by, and that's the message. We were suffering last year (here) with availability, but we've added (the attacking players) for that reason. Look at the two goals Lewis has scored already, fantastic, and look at the two Alfie’s scored, fantastic.

“We lost Emil, who was consistently a double digit goal scorer in this league. We've added great experience, different quality on the wings - whether that's 1v1 moments, getting crosses in. We just tried to change the dynamics slightly all over the pitch, but certainly game changes in those central areas are tough to find. We had to be really patient, we had to work hard in the window, and I go back to they (loan players) were just desperate to come here - and that's why they put in a shift in like that as well.”

Heckingbottom on away support at Pride Park

He said: “Yeah, they've been great. I could hear them from minute one, before the kick-off. I could hear the fans and then you get focused on the game. It's nice. Winning a game of football, that's what we do it for. Winning away is better for me; I always liked away games when I played as well. But managing, I don't know why, you just know how hard it is. To see that and the lads pushing Alfie in front of the fans, it was good.”

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