'Really special' - Chelsea loanee Caleb Wiley on scoring his first Preston North End goal on his home debut
A quality strike on his full debut.
Caleb Wiley made an impressive home debut on Tuesday night despite Preston North End’s 3-1 loss to Bristol City.
The on-loan Chelsea defender scored from 25 yards in the second half of their home clash. After a tough 10 months recovering from an adductor injury and his loan spell at Watford being cut short as a result, Wiley was delighted to be back starting and scoring.
Speaking after the match, he told BBC Radio Lancashire that he felt ‘relief’ after his goal.
“It's been a long year and I've had to deal with injuries,” he said, “it’s been a long road so seeing the ball go in the back of the net was a really special feeling, to hear the fans, it was just an emotional few seconds.”
Wiley hit the post with a headed effort in the first half. He added: “I’m going to look back at it and see what I could have done better but, you know, it happens and we move on.”
He spoke positively about PNE’s performance and said the dressing room was far from low on confidence. “I personally thought we were the better team, I thought we created more chances, but that's part of the game, you've got to capitalise on every chance you get.“
He added: “The good thing, though, is that these games come fast, there's another one this weekend, we know what we need to do better now.
“Actually, I don't think the confidence is low in that locker room, because the feeling that I get from those guys in that locker room is very high.
“They're always positive, every single training session we come in and we do what we need to do, and that's what you need. Obviously, we have the guys on the team that keep everyone in check, and the captains, but I think the positivity is what's important.”
Wiley is grateful to the club for completing his signing. “I give huge credit to the manager and the club for giving me this opportunity,”, he told BBC Radio Lancashire, “many teams passed because of my injury history, and they trusted me, they had full belief in me, and now I need to go show that. I think I showed it today.”