PNE beat Hull City 1-0 on Boxing Day

Preston North End defender Jack Whatmough took plenty of satisfaction from Thursday’s 1-0 win over Hull City.

The Lilywhites picked up their first win at Deepdale since late October and bounced back from the late defeat at Queens Park Rangers, last weekend. Brad Potts’ neat finish on the hour mark was enough for Paul Heckingbottom’s side to take all three points.

As for Whatmough, the 28-year-old made his eighth start for PNE in nine outings. A second clean sheet in that many games was a big plus on the day for the team. North End’s number five was over the moon to get the job done - especially after being given Christmas Day off by the boss.

“It’s a clean sheet and three points and for us as players, we’re delighted,” said Whatmough. “I just said downstairs that it was quite similar to the Leeds game. We had a sucker-punch where we conceded late on, but today we saw it through which is really important for us. Defensively, from front to back, we were quite solid, stuck to the job and role we’d been told and got that right.

“We created chances as well so for us, it was a good performance. We do a lot of work on the training pitch so whenever you are called upon, you know the role and what to do. We’ve got an understanding and know where we are at. Getting that win at home was vital for us and it’s massively important we make this place tough for clubs to come to.

“We have always said we want to be better on the ball and play. I think that team goal today is the first time we have scored a goal like that and it looks good, but we work so hard on that. For one of those to come off is important. We’d done a lot of work on (Hull) and what they’d cause us.

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“Again, that was just being brave with your decisions. Do you need to go long or play a bit? I think we had a chance for Milly when we played from Fred, all the way up. So, for us, we knew that was there. They are the little things we see because we have been working on it. But yeah, for me, sitting here now that was a deserved and hard earned three points for us.

“The gaffer was really good and gave us Christmas Day off, we we could spend it with our family. I had a lovely Christmas with the kids and my family, so yeah it sort of gives you that incentive to go and do well today. You’ve been given a nice thing and you repay it back. And yeah, it was nice of the gaffer to do that for us. I think we repaid it a bit with three points for him today.”

Whatmough has made 15 appearances in all competitions this season - eight fewer than he managed in the whole of his first campaign at PNE. The defender has always been open about his performances in a Preston shirt and assured earlier this season that North End fans hadn’t seen the best of him. With some regular game time coming his way in the absence of Liam Lindsay, he just wants to keep contributing - even if that means playing through the pain barrier.

“Yeah look, I love playing football and I am loving playing football at the moment,” said Whatmough. “For me, however long the run is, I will try and give 100 per cent for the football club. That is what you are paid to do and for me, I am enjoying it and looking forward to hopefully playing a lot more games this year.

“I was fine at QPR. It ended up just being a tactical change and today, yeah a tiny bit (of a knock). I have not played loads, then been into a run of games. So, you feel niggles and knocks but you just want to be out there playing. No matter what it is, you are just going to keep playing through and yeah, I will be fine.”