Alfie Devine and Milutin Osmajic scored the goals as PNE beat Leicester City 2-1 at Deepdale

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom felt his side were well worthy of their 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.

The Lilywhites made it four points from their first two games of the season, with Milutin Osmajic scoring the winning goal in the 85th minute. Tottenham Hotspur loan man Alfie Devine had slotted PNE ahead brilliantly in the opening exchanges.

After the hosts failed to extend their advantage, 16-year-old Foxes winger Jeremy Monga levelled things up mid-way through the second half. North End fought back to take all three points, though, with the relentless Thierry Small laying it on a plate for Osmajic to slot home late on.

“I thought it was very good,” said Heckingbottom. “I just said to the players there, we had many a performance like that (last season), but that would have been a draw. That's the big difference. I thought we should have been more in front than one to be fair, but then when they equalised I don't want us to settle. If we are brave and we go for it, and they get the second, we lose a point. But if we're brave and go for it and get the second like we did today, we gain two.

“So, just those little nudges, shifts in mentality. We certainly didn't get what we deserved last season in many a game, particularly here, when I felt we were the better team. We did that against some real good opposition like today as well, but we'd come away with a point. I think that was the big difference. We had to be good without the ball against Leicester, not only the XI, but the changes they can make, especially in wide areas.

“The talent they can bring on means they can change how they look to build up as well, which can throw you a little bit. I thought without the ball we had to be excellent and we were. One blip was the goal, but apart from that Dan made one save. Apart from that, we defended our box really, really well. All their shots were from 20/25 yards. So, without the ball we were good, but with it I felt we were really positive and caused them problems as well.”

Pre-match, Preston’s boss had called for the Deepdale faithful to play their part on the terraces. The home supporters stuck with the Lilywhites throughout and made themselves heard. Heckingbottom enjoyed the feel inside the stadium and hopes that can remain the case throughout the campaign.

“Yeah, we want more of it,” said Heckingbottom. “We'll get nowhere without that and the fans were fantastic. The songs and passion from the fans, the energy from the fans, we were speaking about the energy of the performance and the intensity of the performance and I felt the fans responded. But I keep talking about it because there's going to be times when we need the fans to drive the intensity. When they see things that they like, get behind the players and make sure they do it again.

“I enjoyed that part of the game today. This group of players are fantastic to work with and I'll tell anyone that they give everything for the team. As long as you get that as a football fan, or as a manager working with them, what more can you ask for? Then it's up to us as a group to find ways to win games. Today you saw that determination and that commitment to a cause, which would give everything to win today. But you also saw a big amount of quality as well, which helped us create those chances.”

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