Notts County Manager Shaun Derry spoke to the media on Monday ahead of our Johnstone’s Paint Trophy match against Preston North End...
With a Northern Area Final against Walsall awaiting the winners of Tuesday night’s game, and the prize for the victor of that two-legged encounter being a trip to Wembley, Derry admitted to having thought about what is on offer going into the game.
He told the assembled journalists: “It’s a game for us to react from Saturday, but it’s an opportunity for all of us. I’ve looked at the sides that are still in the competition and I’m sure, at the back of their minds, they’ll all be thinking about this wonderful opportunity of playing at Wembley. I know I am!
“I want us to do well in it, I’ve took the competition really seriously with the sides that I’ve put out and I’ll be doing exactly the same tomorrow night.
“The games get harder and harder. I feel we’ve played some good stuff in the competition but the longer you go in the competition the harder the games become and we’re up for a big, big challenge tomorrow night.”
Having seen his side lose 3-0 to a very good Swindon Town side in the league on Saturday, Derry is keen for his players to bounce back on Tuesday but knows that it will again be a tough task against another of the top teams in the division.
“I expect from Preston, just like we should always expect, a football club that’s got a really good group of players and I think that they’ve got such a strong squad that they can perhaps make changes if they decide to do that,” he added.
“But they’re a team that you throw into the equation with the likes of Bristol City and Sheffield United and you call them a real big team at our level, so I think across the board it’s going to be a difficult night.”
Subscribers can watch the full pre-match interview with Shaun Derry on Magpie Player.