Ryan Lowe lauded his side’s belief, character and togetherness as they beat Reading at Deepdale thanks to a stoppage-time winner.
It looked as though PNE may have had to settle for a point after Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan, against the run of play, cancelled out Tom Cannon's opener, but Brad Potts popped up with a 92nd-minute header to earn North End all three points, bringing them level with the top six.
Ryan said: “It’s what moments are made of, to win a football match like that.
“We’ve been saying to Pottsy for a while to go and be that match-winner and try to score more goals. It was a great cross from Robbie [Brady] and Pottsy has been brave to get his head in there and barge it into the back of the net.
“I thought we were fantastic in the first half and didn’t score as many as we probably would have liked. We knew Reading were going to be tough and resolute and fighting for their lives.
“Their goal was scruffy on our behalf and when they scored, we felt like it was two points dropped, which would have been a killer.
“But the lads showed great belief and character to get going again after conceding, which was really pleasing.
"Pottsy’s winner was a great moment in front of the Town End and our fans went mad, as did we in the dugout!
“That’s what we’re about, though – we’re very together with everything we do, on the training pitch and here at Deepdale. The lads are fighting for each other and we need that togetherness and camaraderie to achieve anything.”
The objective set by the management staff was to pick up maximum points from the previous three matches and Lowe is proud to have achieved that, whilst stressing the importance of this month’s upcoming fixtures.
“It’s massive to win three on the bounce,” said Ryan. “We asked for nine points from three games at the end of the Easter weekend and we’ve got that.
“Our next target is to break down the next three games – Millwall, Swansea City and Blackburn Rovers.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re right up for those three games, as they are massively important to see where they can take us at the end of the season.”