“‘Tough, Ugly, and Unapologetic’- Preston boss Heckingbottom Drops Bombshell on Derby County’s Style – Fans Won’t Like This!”

Heckingbottom: Derby Will Be a Real Test for In-Form Preston

Paul Heckingbottom believes his Preston North End side will face a serious challenge when they visit Derby County, acknowledging that the Rams aren’t afraid to make matches difficult for their opponents.

Preston head to Pride Park tomorrow on the back of a strong start to the new campaign, a significant improvement after battling relegation last season.

Their early success has been boosted by smart recruitment in the transfer window, which included bringing in former Derby players Lewis Dobbin and Harrison Armstrong. The Lilywhites currently sit eighth in the table.

However, they will come up against a Derby side full of confidence following an impressive win at West Brom, which came just days after holding promotion favourites Ipswich Town to a 2-2 draw.

Despite undergoing a major squad overhaul — with 13 new signings and 13 departures — Derby are starting to find momentum and improve week by week.

Heckingbottom is under no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead.
“It’s going to be a tough game from what I’ve seen of Derby,” he said.

“They’re showing the same qualities they had last season. They know how to stay in games, how to make life difficult for the opposition.”

“They’re not ashamed to grind out results — they’re happy to win ugly if they need to, scoring late goals like they did against Bristol City and West Brom. It’s going to be a real battle.”

He also credited Derby manager Paul Warne for adding more attacking options this season without losing the team’s physical edge.

“John’s added more firepower up front to make them more dangerous. He’s refreshed the squad and made improvements, but they’ve kept that same resilience that they had last year.”