Paul Heckingbottom on the inspiration Preston North End can take from Portsmouth as Fratton Park test assessed
PNE make one of their longest trips of the season to Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.
PNE will be back on the road on Saturday when they make the long trip to the south coast to face Portsmouth. The Lilywhites go into the contest off the back of an unbeaten start in the Championship, while the hosts have had a mixed start to the new campaign.
Nonetheless, it’s expected to be a tough contest for North End, according to Paul Heckingbottom who is well aware of the Blues’ dangers after last season’s 3-1 defeat at Fratton Park.
Here’s what the head coach told the Lancashire Post ahead of the trip to the south coast.
Have Pompey evolved at all from what you've seen so far? You said you have enjoyed watching them...
"The same, yeah, but they're trying to evolve," said Heckingbottom. "I still think the good thing is they're keeping the same threats in how they want to keep the ball and build. (John) Swift's come in to do that and play in a deeper role than probably you guys have seen him over the last few years, when he's played as a 10. He's getting more involved in the build. They want him to keep the ball but that's not at the expense of also being able to be direct and really make you defend, put balls in your box, get bodies forward, commit bodies on to your back line and get a lot of crosses into your box as well. So yeah, I think they're a really, really dangerous team."
It was a bit of a cauldron last year, wasn't it? I think it was one of the games you were most disappointed with. Do you think you'll go and handle that better this time?
"Yeah, you know watching it back, how much they got after us, we just played into their hands," said Heckingbottom. "We actually kept the ball and passed the ball really, really well, but it was as if we were counting the passes and we were just doing that until they took the ball from us. We were really brave and passed the ball but not forwards often enough; didn't make them defend often enough. I was just more disappointed with how we prepared to play, and then we didn't do that. We then tried to make changes within the game. First half, didn't do that and it took a lot of time to have an impact - and for me to behave in a way I don't like to behave with players, you know? That's what I was angry about with that last performance down there."
They're a good club to have back around, aren't they? They were gone for a while but both games, their fans were brilliant at Deepdale and it's a good place to go to.
"Yeah, they're right behind the club and you get that," said Heckingbottom. "I think we as a club have been guilty of being the opposite, because Preston and our fans have been so used and we've been established at this league, whereas Pompey had just come up and what they've gone through, they've been on the journey to get back. All excitement, all the energy that comes with that and they had that real bond between the players and the fans. You can feel it and it's powerful for them. We want that and that's why I keep talking about that. Us as a club and fans, we need that. We are the underdogs in this league now and we have to fight and scrap it. We can't have any sort of sense of entitlement from us as staff, players, fans, anyone to do with the club or we'll come unstuck, you know? You can see how powerful it is when clubs come up and harness that energy. So we're expecting more of that from Portsmouth this season again."
Yeah, so you think the passion of Portsmouth is no different to what's here? It's just that they've had a short burst of success...
"Yeah, so the promotion season out of League One, then the first season back in the Champ... the atmosphere is totally different," said Heckingbottom. "It is. It's just no-one's fault it is, but we need to generate that and have that energy throughout the season because it's going to help us. You saw it in the first two home games that we played teams who'd come down; we need that when we're playing Portsmouth at home, we need that when we're playing Oxford at home.
“We need that when we're playing any club at home regardless and likewise, we have to go with a mentality and way that we're stepping into a cauldron, that we're stepping into a fight and we need the backing of the away fans. When we're away, can they be as noisy as their home fans? Because I keep saying there's nothing better than when you get that result away from home and you're in front of your away fans."