Preston North End man admits season has been ‘frustrating’ for him but determination fierce

Preston North End defender Greg Cunningham lives for the battle of match day, so his frustration at limited game time this season is no surprise.

The Irishman made his first start of the campaign in Wednesday night’s defeat to Leicester City, with his only previous outing having come away to Stoke in early September. The 32-year-old signed a new contract in the summer, with his deal running until December 31st and including fitness and availability clauses to trigger a further extension.

PNE boss Ryan Lowe has opted for a back three of Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay and Andrew Hughes more often than not this season, but with a calf issue keeping the latter out in midweek - Cunningham’s chance came along. It was a daunting one, up against Jamie Vardy and co, but the number three was pleased to get out there and wants to now contribute as best as he can.

“Yeah, yeah look, on a personal point of view you know, of course it has been frustrating,” said Cunningham. “You want to be out on the pitch with the boys, who’ve been doing fantastically. I have been in the game long enough to know my role - at the beginning of the season it was a supporting role. We are all in this together. We have had a fantastic start and we’ve hit a few tough results, but it’s about bouncing back now. I have got a chance in the team and I’ve just got to do what I can, then we go from there.

“But, we’re all in this together and all pulling in the right direction - all 20 plus of us. We are still sat third in the league, so we go to Ipswich with a lot of confidence still. It has been a very positive start and we can take a lot of positives from these opening ten games. It is important, I think, for us to go into this international break aiming for a good performance and result to follow. So yeah, we will dust ourselves off and get ready.”