Hemmings with bit between his teeth

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After a fairly successful Christmas period for PNE with the exception of the 3-0 home defeat to Brentford, January was quite frustrating month for North End.

Only one league win within the whole of the month saw most PNE fans thinking that the play-off places where realistically the only way we would achieve promotion back to the Championship, especially after a phenomenal 97th-minute goal from Coventry City which made us all feel like it just wasn’t going to be the automatic spots with luck like that.

However, with the incoming transfer of Bolton striker Craig Davies and results so far taking a turn in our favour, February now looks like a key month, especially the game this Saturday at Deepdale which sees us take on fellow automatic chasers Leyton Orient. This really is a pivotal game for us and let’s hope for a big attendance at Deepdale to get behind the lads.

It also looks like Simon Grayson has put the pride back into Preston and it also seems he has put the bit back between Hemmings’ teeth. With the loan signing of Davies and a rumoured rejected bid for Stevie May of St Johnstone for around £500,000, it looks like Grayson has Hemmings believing in him.

On another note, even though part of me was gutted to get knocked out after battering Forest in the FA Cup, another part of me was relieved. Relieved in a way that now we can solely concentrate on the promotion push.

With a fully-fit squad going into the final third of the season, and the dream of swapping leagues with the ‘superior’ Blackpool, we need all the support we can get home and away to watch the dream turn into reality.

On a final note, I would like to pass my sympathies on to Mick Murphy’s family and friends – a loyal PNE fan who travelled home and away and was known by many within the club. RIP Mick.

By Adam Rawling, Preston’s FanZone blogger.

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