Preston North End's opening two Championship games have been 'unacceptable' says Jordan Storey

The Lilywhites are yet to open their account in the Championship, taking the lead before losing 4-1 to Hull City on the opening day before losing 2-1 to Reading on Saturday.

In between the two losses however was a 3-0 victory at Mansfield in the Carabao Cup which, by the end, was comfortable.

Hopes coming into this season were fairly high despite there still being appetite for new signings – Frankie McAvoy showed last season as interim head coach how he could do in the role full time.

Storey was a mainstay in the now permanent head coach’s backline and has been again this term.

The 23-year-old feels the success from the end of last season means that things should be better this time around.

“They’re not the results we’ve been looking for,” he said.

“It was nice to bounce back from the opening day defeat.

“We’re disappointed in the league with how things have gone, we think we should have been doing better than the two results have suggested.

“To lose in the manner we did, especially in front of fans that we haven’t seen for months, it hurt a lot.

“To lose our second game of the season as well was very disappointing and we know we need to bounce back from it.

“It’s not acceptable, especially with how we were doing towards the tail end of last season, keeping so many clean sheets, to concede so many early on is very disappointing from a defender’s point of view.

“We know what we need to do and we need to put it right as soon as possible.

“We know the standards we set towards the end of last season – we know what we need to do to put it right and it’s not acceptable from our behalf.”

Storey is preparing to play in his and PNE’s fourth game of the season, against Huddersfield Town.

North End completed the double over the Terriers last season, a 3-0 win at Deepdale coming towards the end of Alex Neil’s tenure.

Carlos Corberan’s men were beaten 5-1 by Fulham at the weekend and there is a level of expectation going into the game from inside the PNE camp.

Storey said: “It’ll be a strong game, I know on the weekend they didn’t have a great day but there is no easy game in the Championship.

“We obviously expect to go out there and get the win, because we know what we’re capable of.

“We won’t be fazed by anything and hopefully we’ll get the three points. We want to show the fans what we’re capable of, we want to get that first win for them.

“They deserve it after the long time that they’ve been away and haven’t been able to come to games.

“It will be even more sweet if we can get our first win in front of them.”

The former Exeter man has seemingly nailed down his staring spot since McAvoy was put in charge, after multiple seasons of being in and out of the side.

The young defender has struggled for consistency during his time at Deepdale which has also then limited opportunities.

He has been benefiting from minutes in the North End side and the right-hand side of the back three suits a player like him who is comfortable on the ball.

The faith shown in him by McAvoy is helping Storey’s confidence. Now in his fourth season at the club, he is determined to make this campaign the one where he kicks on.

He said: “I’d like to think I’m a key player now, I just want to get that first win in the league now and build on top of that.

“When the manager gives that confidence in you and gives that faith to you it gives you a great relief and you want to do him proud as well as the fans and the team.

“It’s nice that he has the confidence to pick me week in, week out.

“It’s great mentally to be picked for the two opening games of the season.

“It was nice to end the season on a high like I did last season and I want to carry that form on into the new season, with the fans. That’s still my goal, to play as many games as possible and to do really well.

“I want the team to be in the top half of the table because the fans do deserve it, especially after the last couple of seasons we’ve had.

“Last season’s finish will benefit us, it might not be showing in the results as of yet, but to go on the run we did it makes it more disappointing this season that we haven’t carried it on.

“We know we’re more than capable of picking up the results that we did last season and I think they will come over time.”

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