Preston North End captain hails importance of star striker after wonder strike against Middlesbrough

After scoring three in two games to start the month, Riis went four games without a goal before he nearly took the net off against Middlesbrough.

Liam Lindsay flicked the ball into the path of the forward who lashed the ball on the volley into the back of the net, in true Riis style.

After the game, PNE boss Ryan Lowe joked the effort was destined either for the M6 or the top corner. Browne on the other hand felt he was lucky to come away with his life after the strike.

He said: "I backed him. I just thought I'd better stay out of the way of it because if it hits me it could kill me!

"He's got a rocket on him. I don't think anything was stopping that. He's massively important for us. Goals in this league, they're the hardest thing to get.

"To have someone of his quality and quantity in terms of the goals he produced last season, we know that's in him. If we keep giving him the chances he will put them away.

"When he's on his day there is no defender that can deal with him. He's frightening when he gets in behind.”

Browne however is not forgetting about the supporting cast in the final third. The three other recognised strikers in the North End squad have one league goal between them so far, Troy Parrott’s winner at Norwich.

The PNE captain was full of praise for the other forward regardless.

He said: “To have someone like him (Riis) up there is pleasing for us but then you look at our bench I think anyone who has played has been fantastic. Probably not in terms of getting the goals, between Ched Evans, Parrott and Sean Maguire, but their all-round play has been excellent.

"You know that when they do play they can be excellent. We all have to be pitching in with goals. There's quite a few of us who haven't scored, I think Jordan Storey is one of the top goal scorers which doesn't say a lot. We're thankfully not in as bad a position as that probably suggests.”