Verdict - Preston North End deserved the win against the warm up act of Huddersfield Town

Greg Cunningham was the man to get the winning goal, the Irishman playing in the middle of the back three for the first half and making his inclusion count by nodding North End ahead from a Ben Whiteman corner.

It was a goal that you could see meant a lot to PNE's no.3 who is not shy in talking about his love for the club but also too about his nan's 97th birthday, post match, which he marked with his goal.

It was a fantastic performance from the defender, and also the rest of the defence as they secured their 10th clean sheet of the season, and again it proved the foundation the Lilywhites needed to secure the victory.

They deserved the win, they were the better side over the piece and restricted the home side to the point where they failed to even register a shot on target.

It did not always look like North End were going to win, the first half lacking any real quality. Although Ryan Lowe, who made four changes to his side for the trip to Yorkshire, felt his side were fantastic in both halves, the opening 45 lacked quality.

PNE did not seem to quite know what their next move was and it often depended on the quality of their first touch or who was immediately an option.

In the second half that changed and they had more forward runners, more pace in their play and just better quality. Their passes were finding their mark, their first touch had intent to get forward and then they reaped their rewards for that.

They were not up against much, it has to be said, and if PNE do want to be a top six side this season then these are they games they should be winning, but they found a way over the line.

After back to back defeats, the mood around the club worsening and form dipping, it was a very important result for PNE in a very important week.

Their important players stepped up too. The back three and goalkeeper were their usual commanding selves, Alvaro Fernandez down the left wing was again bright and the midfield by the end of the game looked ready to go to war with anyone.

The outpouring of emotion from the players and fans was evident with the goal but the manager kept his cool.

Lowe seems to have been humbled by recent results and refused his usual post match fist pump to celebrate. He inists they will return when they are warranted and right now, it feels very much like the win over the Terriers was just the warm up. The Yorkshire side were unkowingly the supporting act for a gig that takes place this weekend at the seaside.

The importance of the fixture is not lost on those around the club and whilst a 1-0 win at Huddersfield, or any win for that matter, is a good result, it will pale in comparison to one at the weekend.

It is job done, for now. North End deserved their points, now it's about getting three more.