Graham Alexander has finally seen Preston North End do something he discussed in first words as manager

Graham Alexander finally saw his Preston North End team play exactly how he said he wanted them to in his first press conference as manager in Saturday's win over Southampton.

It took seven games, but Alexander now has his first victory as Preston boss in a thrilling victory over Southampton.

Though it took a resolute defensive retreat to see the game out in the second half, Preston were more than worthy of their lead after a brilliant attacking display in the first 45.

Jordan Thompson's stunning volley was the difference, but North End created several good chances, both through quick turnovers and tidy build-up play.

In his first press conference as boss on September 29, Alexander explained how he believes there are two ways of defending.

"You can sit back and let the opposition come at you, or you can attack them first and make them defend," he said. "We discovered over the years, myself and Chris [Lucketti, assistant], we feel much [more] comfortable being like that and actually attacking the team as much as possible."

Both were on display at Deepdale but, in the first half, Preston genuinely limited the opposition through controlling the ball, dominating the play and pressing high.

When asked by The Post if he felt like that was the first time he'd seen his team play like that, Alexander said: "Yeah, definitely.

“Listen, we were on the front foot. We pressed everything and they had two touches in our box. That's it."

In comparison, Preston had 12 touches in Southampton's box in the first half, had nine more shots (12 vs 3) and registered an xG of 0.83 vs 0.16. Additionally, 76.4 per cent of Preston's passes were in the opposition’s half, compared to 42.2 per cent for the visitors.

Alexander continued: "That's how you keep clean sheets, by actually putting the pressure on the opponent, throwing punches, making sure they know we can come back at them.

"That's the biggest thing, putting pressure on the opponent.

"I think there's two ways of getting the clean sheet, first-half, pressing the ball and turning it over miles away from your box. Then, second half, when they force us back, then you just have to get in front of balls, you have to stop crosses, you have to win the duels.

"What we've let ourselves down in recent times is we haven't won those duels coming in the box but today was a great effort.

"The first half is exactly what our team needs to look like for a whole game, but we're playing against really good opponents that force you back."

Alexander explains change of approach to preparing his Preston players

Speaking ahead of the game, Alexander said he would have to 'adapt' the way he wants to play to the team but doesn't think he actually changed much on that side of things ahead of Southampton.

The manager says he went back to what the side was doing in his first games in charge and instead altered how he prepared his players with information.

"I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all for this squad," he said. "I think there's different players come from different formations, so we went back to what we started with in the first couple of games.

"We went back to what we want to do: be on the front foot, put pressure on the opponent at all times.

"I think I gave them enough information yesterday and today, that made it a bit clearer for them.

"That was on me before. I thought I covered everything, but there's a lot of detail in there and a lot of faith you have to have in jumping with your teammate in front of you and not looking behind you. There's a convincing part in how we want to play as well. I just thought we've done that this week.

"Players have had a really tough week physically, and you could see that again, but they didn't let each other down. That was the biggest thing for me. I thought it was amazing to watch."

Graham Alexander explains how PNE’s shape worked vs Saints

Alexander admitted he 'made a mistake' by changing the team's shape at Stoke City following the positive draw with West Brom, but has repeatedly downplayed the importance of starting formations as it changes throughout a game.

That was clear to see on Saturday, with Preston sitting in a back-five out of possession but often moving to a 4-1-4-1 or even a 3-1-3-3 at times when they had the ball.

Though the manager again talked about how the shape shanges depending on the game state, he believes the general structure worked brilliantly against the Saints.

"I know exactly how that shape works, the connections you have to make, the angles you have to play at from each other," he said.

"I think there's scope within that for players to be fluid, to run off each other, to pick up pockets of space.

"T [Thierry Small] and Alfie [Devine] in those pockets, Langy [Callum Lang] on the last line, the width coming from the two wing-backs. The depth of the back-three was good in possession, the midfield two linked the play, so there was a lot of good stuff today from that side."

Now Preston have a significant period of control and dominance, a full 45 minutes, under their belts, Alexander can't wait to analyse it and show it back to the players so it can start happening more often and for even longer.

He added: "The biggest thing we've got is so much to take from the first half to actually feedback to the players now, in a defending and attacking sense.

"That gives us the evidence to keep replaying it, working on it in these next two weeks and hopefully keep improving."