Andrew Hughes says Preston North End now have 'minimum requirement' they must do in every fixture

Andrew Hughes says Preston North End have now 'set the bar' for how they should perform in every game going forward.

Graham Alexander picked up his first point as Preston manager on Saturday after his side put in a brave and battling performance he was delighted with to draw 1-1 with promotion-chasing West Brom.

With sharper finishing in the box and some controversial refereeing decisions going the other way, it could have been a deserved victory for North End, but they had to settle for just a single point.

Yet, the mood around Deepdale has improved drastically following such a committed and entertaining performance from the team, which earned rousing support from The Gentry.

Hughes, who scored Preston's goal before Aune Heggebo equalised shortly afterwards, says the team must ensure they put in the same level of effort in every single match.

"I think it's doing the minimum requirements right," he said. "Fighting for second balls, winning first balls, tackles, duels, everyone done that today. Just doing the hard yards and that's all the fans want to see, is the lads putting in effort.

"That's the minimum requirement now, we've set the bar. We need to build on what we've done today.

"Fully deserved [result], really. I just wish we held on and nicked all three points, but it gives us something to build on now going forward.

"I think that performance today sets a marker for us. Everyone's together, battling for every ball, you see the celebrations when the goal went in, even at the end there with the fans.

"I think if we stick together we'll be good."

With another promotion hopeful in Stoke City up next on Saturday, away from home, it's the perfect chance to show they can maintain those performance levels.

A 'turning point' for PNE

Despite the high spirits after a strong performance against a team sitting 5th in the table, Preston are still rock bottom of the Championship with just one win in 12 games.

Wins are desperately needed if North End are to climb out of trouble and Hughes believes the draw can be a 'turning point.'

When asked about working with Alexander a month into his reign, Hughes added: "This is going to take time for the manager to get the ideas across to us, it's not going to happen straight away.

"I think today was hopefully a turning point as players with the performance and continue that going forward."

On his reaction to getting his first goal of the season, Hughes added: "I didn't know what I was doing. I just started running off. An amazing moment."