Preston North End's derby hero says practice made perfect against Blackpool

Archer fired Tuesday night’s only goal, collecting a pass from Emil Riis and firing a low shot past former PNE goalkeeper Chris Maxwell who was on as a substitute.

It was the 20-year-old’s sixth goal of his loan spell from Aston Villa and further increased his popularity with the North End faithful.

Archer said: “I’d had a chance earlier in the game when my shot got blocked and I learned from that.

"I practice the kind of scenario I was in for the goal every day in training. When I saw the ball hit the back of the net I was so glad.

"When I was scored I was just looking at the Blackpool fans, it was a good feeling.

"It was a team performance, all the lads deserve a lot of credit. Once we got the goal it was a case of controlling the game, that was something we spoke about at half-time.

"The most important thing was seeing the game out and we did that well.”

Archer only joined North End in January and could have been forgiven for not knowing much about the PNE/Blackpool rivalry.

However, he had familiarised himself with the derby ahead of the game.

"I did some research beforehand, I watched the last game they played,” said Archer.

"I could see how much it meant to the Preston fans, so happy days when we won the game.”

Archer is enjoying his loan at North End and has another six matches before heading back to Villa at the end of the season.

He has targets in mind for the final run-in, with him being a player PNE would love to bring back to Deepdale for the 2022/23 campaign.

Archer said: “There are six games left and I’m aiming to score more. Hopefully I can get into double figures by the end of the season.

"I’m enjoying it here and I want to keep learning.

"Playing in the Blackpool game was another bit of experience and it was great to get the win.

"Each and everyone of us had a job to do, 11 men on the pitch and the Preston fans were the 12th man."

Gallery of fans’ photos from PNE’s win over Blackpool