Preston defender Ben Davies’ exclusive column: New boy Scott Sinclair could prove to be the difference for us

Scott Sinclair’s brilliant goal against Swansea City at Deepdale was not only great for him – but was also a massive boost for the rest of the squad.
Playing the ball forward during the derby clash against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood ParkPlaying the ball forward during the derby clash against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park
Playing the ball forward during the derby clash against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park

His superb run and finish against his old club was his first goal for us since arriving during the January transfer window.

You always want to see the strikers in your team score but the quality of his goal really reverberated around the dressing room.

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Scott is one of those players that if he’s on the pitch then you know you have got a chance.

We have had a few players like that here at Preston over the years since I’ve been here and it’s good for the rest of the players to know that you possess that kind of quality on the pitch.

The great thing about Scott is he works his socks off for the team, which is obviously a massive help as well.

I think he’s been a brilliant signing and it’s good to have that sprinkling of class and quality which we saw against Swansea.

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He certainly produced a bit of magic to get us the goal and that is something which we have needed a few times in games previously.

Sometimes you just need somebody to produce something out of nothing.

I can think of a few times this season when teams have come to us and sat in – Reading at Deepdale is one that springs to mind.

They just came and sat in and we couldn’t score, so it’s nice to know we have players like Scott who can just produce something when we need it.

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On a personal note, I think I am getting closer to my best after missing a few games towards the end of last year through injury. It’s well documented that I actually injured both ankles. Firstly, cartilage in my left foot broke away when we drew 1-1 against Leeds United at Deepdale.

That caused me to miss the 3-2 win against Blackburn a few days later, but I was able to return in the next game and play through it.

I then injured my right foot away to Derby County about a month later and was forced to come off. That was more of a muscular complaint and so it meant I could not play on with the injury.

All in all, it was a difficult couple of months, but I managed to return to the team over Christmas and everything seems to be okay now.

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I came back for the 1-1 draw against Leeds at Elland Road and I’ve been in the team ever since.

The Premier League are now currently having a winter break and we have actually had a mini, unplanned, break ourselves.

Going out of the FA Cup meant we had no game the other weekend so it was a chance to have a bit of down-time. I managed to take my girlfriend Abbie away for a few days to London.

It was a chance to get away totally from football and I think that will help us as we head towards the end of the season. It’s a trip to Wigan Athletic this weekend and it’s important we continue to keep the momentum that we have created 
recently going.

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Lastly, I would just like to congratulate my former team-mate Josh Brownhill on getting his move to the Premier League with Burnley. He’s done really well since he left here for Bristol City. Hopefully, we will face each other next year in the top flight. That would be nice, although there’s a lot of work to be done yet this season before that could happen.