Preston North End boss hails key characteristic ahead of West Brom trip
Paul Heckingbottom has hailed the "fight and spirit" of his Preston North End players ahead of their trip to Albion on New Year's Day.
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Preston sit eight points adrift of the play-offs and climbed eight clear of the drop zone after registering back-to-back wins for the first time in the Championship this term over the Christmas period.
The Lilywhites beat Hull City 1-0 on Boxing Day before Emil Riis bagged a brace to inspire them to a 3-1 success over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Heckingbottom labelled the victory over the latter as his "favourite" since being appointed as manager in August and was particularly pleased with the mentality his players showed.
He said: "That's my favourite win since I've been here. I really enjoyed it," Heckingbottom said.
"Moments of good football but I really enjoyed our heart and the spirit and the right that we showed as well.
"When we had moments in the game when we got on top, (Sheffield Wednesday) changed how they played out and we got it wrong because we weren't listening.
"We didn't have the same fire and spirit, getting things wrong, and we weren't aggressive enough in certain areas of the pitch.
"At half-time, that masked my message to the players. I didn't talk about all the good stuff we'd done. We had to be better with those things because then, whatever change we make, we show the will to then deal with it and that's why it's my favourite win."
Brad Potts, who scored the winner against Hull, missed the victory over the Owls with a knee injury and remains a strong doubt for the trip to the Hawthorns.
Elsewhere, defender Liam Lindsay will be available for selection again after serving his two-match suspension, although Robbie Brady is likely to miss out with a cracked rib.
