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Rob Edwards spoke to the media on Friday ahead of the trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Town will seek to get their first win this season after drawing at Fratton Park last week against newly promoted Portsmouth.

Edwards was open about the importance of getting a win and how it will play on the squad.

“It’s always important to try and get a win,” said the boss. “But it is something we can never guarantee either.

“After the performance last week with players coming back and new additions coming in, people are starting to feel a little more positive and results help that.”

With several players on their way back to the matchday squad, including Mads Andersen, Reece Burke and Marvelous Nakamba, Edwards recognises the importance of squad competitiveness.

“It’s inevitable now, this is the first time in a long time, months and months that I’ll be leaving players out,” explained Edwards. “That’s not a nice thing but I’d rather be doing that than having to do what we have had to do since around March time.

“We are certainly looking stronger now, which is really good, and it doesn’t guarantee results. We still have to work extremely hard and earn them, but we are in a better position to go and do what we want to do.”

The gaffer feels it is important not to play down the opposition, Preston's 3-0 loss away at Swansea City last weekend saw them appoint a new manager in Paul Heckingbottom.

“They’ve still got lots of strength there,” said Edwards. “They are a good Championship team. We can talk about what we think they might do, but we can never be sure and that’s why we have had to prepare ourselves, which is genuinely the case.

“The game could be completely different and that’s where we need to make good decisions when the whistle goes.”

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