Preston North End's Freddie Woodman clarifies his 'complete black out' from social media

Preston North End goalkeeper Freddie Woodman takes great pride in keeping clean sheets - so going 14 games without one was testing.

The Lilywhites stripped it right back at Norwich City last weekend and brought the leaky form to an end, with a goalless draw. North End's performance on the day was stubborn and the game far from a classic, but Woodman took huge satisfaction on a personal note.

Having kept 17 clean sheets in the 2022/23 campaign, Woodman has had to make do with three this season. Preston's shot-stopper is an honest talker in the press and was therefore happy to reflect on the disappointing run of results over recent months.

"Yeah, it affected me a lot," said Woodman. "I love clean sheets - it's no secret. I just wanted to get back to keeping them and yeah, it was such a relief after the Norwich game. When that whistle went, I know it was only a 0-0 and probably doesn't mean much to too many people, but for me personally it was relief at getting back to being defensively solid.

"They are just tough days. The Middlesbrough one, personally, I felt like I was a bit cra- to be honest and could've played a lot better. But, there are times in your career where you come across games and you're not 100 per cent sure how that's happened. The only thing you can do is get back on the training pitch, work on your game and try be better next time. There's no magic answer for it; in football it just sometimes happens like that.

"As I've got older, I've realised that you can't take things home with you. When I was younger, I used to be the world's worst at that and let it fester for days on end. I am still trying to get better at that and the manager pulls me when I am a bit down and frustrated. But yeah, I've got fantastic people around me and the players are great, so it's a case of just keep going and doing what you think is right. Eventually, the times turn around."

Woodman, by comparison to most footballers, has been an active social media poster. But, a few weeks ago PNE supporters online noticed that the shot-stopper's accounts had disappeared. The number one explained how he has indeed binned social media off, but not on the back of criticism - as some suspected.

"Recently, I have had a complete black out from social media, but for completely different reasons to football," said Woodman. "So yeah, I haven't actually had the opportunity to even look at that, which I guess has helped. When I had it, I did enjoy interacting with the fans and sharing a lot of stuff with them, so on that side of things it has been a bit disappointing.

"I don't know (if I'll go back on it). We will see. There's just a lot of misleading information and yeah, we will see. The most disappointing thing, coming off it, is not interacting with young goalkeepers who are aspiring to be in the game. I really enjoyed that side of social media - I feel like I could help them and add things to their game. But as I say, it's a bad old place social media."