Graham Alexander could lay claim to being arguably the best right back in the Championship. A Scotland international with over 100 goals to his name, the defender has been a regular fixture in Preston North End's team for the past seven seasons. An unsung hero at Deepdale, he possesses one of the hardest shots in football and is enjoying another successful campaign as Preston aim to make it a rewarding first campaign in charge for Paul Simpson. Givemefootball's Ian Clarkson spoke to Alexander and discovered that Paul Simpson has breathed fresh life into the Lancashire club since taking over from Billy Davies in the summer.
Q:HAVE YOU SEEN MUCH TO FRIGHTEN YOU IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON?
A:Don't get me wrong, there are some decent teams in this league - especially near the top of the table - but we haven't seen anyone that we are not confident of doing well against. The last few weeks have been tough for us. Even though we have been beaten 3-1 by the team who are leading, Birmingham, we can take a lot of confidence from it. You play the top teams and teams struggling at the bottom and it's a cliché, but there are no easy games. That gets proved week in, week out.
Q:YOU WEREN’T THE BOOKMAKERS' FAVOURITES AT THE START OF THE SEASON – HAVE YOU ENJOYED SURPRISING PEOPLE AGAIN?
A:The gaffer did well to keep it together. Given what was going on, a lot of people might have seen this as a season of consolidation. But we have hit the ground running and done really well. Our intention is to score more goals and we have been more attacking. It's quite the opposite of how we were last season when we had a great defence. That was the basis of our success but we couldn't score enough to get into the final two positions. Hopefully, we have rectified that.
Q:GOALS ARE SOMETHING THAT WILL ALWAYS BE LINKED TO YOU – TO REACH 100 FROM FULL BACK IS SOME ACHIEVEMENT ISN'T IT?
A:Thanks. It has taken me a long time. About 15 or 16 seasons to be honest, but it's something I'm really proud of and when I'm finished it will be something nice for me to look back upon.
Q:WHAT IS A REALISTIC TARGET FOR THE TEAM NOW?
A:The play-offs are a realistic target for a lot of clubs in the Championship. Getting into the top two is a tall order. Now we are in there it is a target for us. But if we finish in the top six that will be great for us and we would have nothing to worry about if we went into the play-offs. But there is a long way to go and we are not really thinking about that end of the season. In the last couple of years we have gone close and missed out so we know how hard it is to get out of this division. Hopefully we can last the distance and go the whole season, but we are keeping our feet on the ground
Q:THE 3-1 DEFEAT AT BIRMINGHAM AT THE WEEKEND DIDN'T REFLECT PRESTON'S PERFORMANCE DID IT?
A:That's right. We have a disappointed dressing room because we thought we could have got something out of the game. The difference was that they took their chances and we didn't. Credit Birmingham for that, but we thought we deserved a point at least. However, it was the best we have played now for two or three weeks. We have got back to where we expected ourselves. We were hard-working, winning tackles, putting teams under pressure and then creating chances when we got into the final third. There were some good signs out there.
