Preston North End new boy Ben Whiteman pleased to have been thrown in at the deep end

The midfielder got three matches in eight days under his belt after his move from Doncaster Rovers.

Whiteman says he learned plenty in that trio of games as he looks to acclimatise quickly to this higher level of football.

However, he is grateful for a clear midweek which will allow more time on the training pitch at Euxton getting to know his new colleagues further.

“The pace of the games is obviously different, it’s a level above where I’ve come from,” Whiteman said.

“The players are a lot better and I’ve tried to acclimatise as much as possible. Against Reading and maybe the Bristol City game, I saw a lot more of the ball than at Birmingham,

“The Birmingham game was a straight-out scrap, the conditions were some of the worse I have played in.

“We got the job done there and got three points, then I thought we started well against Reading.

“When you look back at the game, we needed to score in that first 25 to 30 minutes when we were on top.

“They came back at us but I thought we nullified their threat in the main.

“Sometimes you have to have an understanding of the players you are up against.

“Reading are in the top six where we want to be and in the end we got a point, which was quite decent.”

Things have happened at quite a pace for Whiteman since his move to PNE.

He had a couple of days’ training before his debut at Bristol City.

Then focus quickly moved to the Birmingham game and then to the Reading clash.

Said Whiteman: “It is important to get some work done on the training ground and we’re doing that this week.

“In my first 10 days here I probably only had three full training sessions, with the rest of it recovery time and getting ready for the next game.

“We can get some work done and prepare to go to Sheffield Wednesday.”

The trip to Hillsborough marks a return to that region for Whiteman.

He spent three years on the other side of the Steel City divide with Sheffield United.

Whiteman joined them in 2014 after being released by Manchester United as a teenager.

He played for the Blades in their League One days before going on loan to Mansfield and then Doncaster.

Three years ago Whiteman went full time to Doncaster and really pushed his career forward there, attracting PNE’s attention.

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