It's been a good year for Chris Brown so far, the big striker was rescued from a Carrow Road nightmare to reignite his career at Deepdale and after some fine performances and goals in PNE colours he admitted to many that he didn't want the season to end. It's no surprise then that after helping the Lilywhites stave off relegation, Brown is now one of the keenest members of the North End squad to get his teeth into pre-season training.

"It was nice to have a break but within a couple of weeks I couldn't wait to get back," the striker told pne.com on his return to duty.

"You miss the training, you miss the lads and the banter and all that and obviously you miss the games. It's good to come back and I can't wait for the games to come thick and fast.

"Everyone has come in buzzing, they are pleased to see each other. The team spirit has been excellent since I've come here and I think everyone just wants the season to start because I think we showed towards the end of last season that we are a good side."

Brown was one of four players brought in by manager Alan Irvine in January 2008 and the striker admits that while there may have been very little transfer activity at Deepdale in the summer, the fruits of Irvine's rebuilding work have already been shown by the team's form in 2008.

He said: "The Gaffer has said that he has been a little frustrated but the form guide says that since January we are second in the league and we have got some good players here, I think we would be a good match for anybody.

"The Gaffer said at the end of last season, 'Why stop, why not continue?', I think everyone is looking forward to doing that. The lads had a great run of form and picked up points and confidence right the way through the year so we need to carry that on."

The Sunderland born striker is now looking ahead to the second-half of 2008 with plenty of optimism and though he hasn't set himself any personal goals yet, he still has plenty to look forward to.

"I haven't set any targets yet, I will probably sit down once the pre-season is out of the way and see how I feel in terms of games and goals and stuff like that. To be honest I've given the Ruud Van Nistelrooy DVD a break over the summer.

"I always enjoy the trips away, it is good to see other countries and the training is probably going to be hard. When you are away with the lads you enjoy the training and hopefully enjoy the games as well, we are going over there to get fit so hopefully everything can remain positive.

"Also it will be nice to play in front of the new stand at Deepdale when it is ready, it will be good to see a good amount of fans in it, to cheer us on and help us get off to a good start."

That start comes when the season kicks-off at Ipswich on August 9th but the banter at Springfields looks to have got underway earlier than ever and Brown is keen to comment on a few of the new looks in the squad, including Chris Sedgwick's new hairstyle.

"Sedgy is a little bit worse for wear now," smiled the big striker.

"He's realised that his age is catching up with him a little bit and he's lost all his hair. Youl's had a bit of a trim as well and it's knocked ten years off him."