Frankie McAvoy delighted to get first win of Championship season against Peterborough United

Patrick Bauer marked his first league game in eight months with the only goal of the game as the Lilywhites saw off their old boss Darren Ferguson.

North End were a creative threat throughout the game but failed to take the majority of their chances, Posh also having a couple of big chances themselves.

McAvoy admitted that it could have been more comfortable for his side but the result was all that mattered.

"I'm delighted, I wish it could have been a little bit easier," he told the Lancashire Post.

"We had plenty of opportunities and chances to make it a bit easier for ourselves.

"I'd asked them to create more goalscoring opportunities and to be more clinical in the final third - we worked hard.

"I think this system is one that suits us best and we created a lot of goalscoring opportunities.

"1-0 is always a difficult scoreline, precarious, and they keep going until the end.

"I knew they would always keep coming. I said to the boys if we got the second goal it would make it easier for us, I thought with the changes we made we got opportunities from that.

"The only disappointing part for me is that it was 1-0, if I'm going to be critical. But at the end of the day it is the first points on the board for us and I'm delighted for everyone."

North End had seven shots on target throughout the piece but that doesn't tell the full story as the quality of their chances could have seen them five or six up.

It was a tense close to the game, with PNE's narrow advantage, but they continued to push for more goals, with two big chances after the 90 minutes.

McAvoy wants to build on the victory and make Deepdale a fortess.

"Like the other night, I don't think 1-0 told the full story," he said.

"What we've got to do is make this place a difficult place for anybody to come to and be difficult to play against.

"We need to make sure we're more clinical but that's the hard part, scoring goals is difficult.

"I was pleased with a lot of our play today and I'm delighted with them. We need to do a little bit more game management but we've got some young boys out there.

"It's Josh Earl's second game for us - after 90+5 minutes he's galloping in to try and get the second goal when there's 25 seconds to go.

"Emil actually hears him shouting for it and I'm screaming at him to keep it in the corner just to win the game!

"They're going to be a bit naive and that will come with experience.

"I've always had faith in them, I've always had trust in them. People will look at scorelines and we haven't been good enough - hands up - but when they give me everything they've got, I can't ask for more from them."

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here.