'Perfect' day for Ben Woodburn as he scored first Preston North End league goal against Blackburn Rovers

Woodburn put his side into the lead after 17 minutes as he collected Ched Evans’ through ball to calmly slot the ball beyond Thomas Kaminski in the Rovers’ goal.

Evans made it 2-0 in the second half after Woodburn had initially won the ball high up, with Bradley Dack halving the deficit. Evans was again on hand to increase the gap to two goals, with Ben Whiteman netting North End’s fourth.

The opening goal was Woodburn’s first in the league for PNE, having scored in the Carabao Cup away at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this season.

The 23-year-old described the feeling of scoring his first league goal for the club to the club website, he said: “It was unbelievable. In this game as well, it was a special feeling.

“I think we were pressing well as a team and Ryan Ledson won it back.

“He played it straight to Ched and his weight of pass was straight to my back foot, and it was a good touch to be fair, and I just stuck it away and it was a great feeling.

“It was the perfect day really.

“A 4-1 win in a derby game; it’s just amazing.

“It just shows what kind of a group we’ve got. We all stuck together and to put in a performance like that, it was just one of those days.”

There were joyous scenes in the away end as over 4,000 PNE fans celebrated their goals and victory.

They were up against the elements in East Lancashire as freezing temperatures, and then snow, threatened to put their good spirits on ice.

But the football kept them going and their side were on top from the opening minutes until the last.

One man in particular that sent them home happy was Evans, who now has five goals in his last three games and four in two games on Sky.

Woodburn has sympathy for the defenders that have to come up against him in this sort of form.

He said: “That’s what you want, celebrating with the away fans.

“It was a good day and I’m glad they enjoyed it. We put it on for them.

“After a tough day’s work, it feels good to go over and celebrate with the fans.”

“When we get the ball it's fun but off the ball I enjoy pressing so it helps the team and we got a couple of goals from it today. It was good fun and a good day.

“We were passing it great at times and we also knew how to manager the game. Sometimes we weren't passing it short and it was to go long, I think the boys were quality today - every single man. It was a quality performance.

“It was vital we responded fast and when you have Ched up front he's going to cause a nuisance, it was some goal. I wouldn't want to play against him, he was unbelievable. I wouldn't give the man of the match to anyone else. Even though everyone was exceptional today, he was the star man.”