Preston saw off Accrington Stanley 3-0 at Springfields with Mike Aspin producing a man of the match display.

The right back was involved in the build up to all three goals leading the way for a Preston side who had three fresh faces in their line-up.

Coach Jamie Hoyland thought it was a good day to use some fresh legs and put Jack Cudworth in goal, Chris Rogers on at left-back and Ciaron Barton as a centre-half.

Aspin who played his full eight consecutive game said about the change in personnel.

"I thought they did really well, everyone wants to play and we know that within our squad we have got players capable of coming in to do the right job and that shows that we got good players in the side.

"We left Dom and Nathan [Dominic Collins and Nathan Fairhurst] out who have played for the reserves and the youth team for a long while now and obviously their legs are gonna get tired, they needed a rest."

Despite winning with 3-0 PNE could have had twice as many goals but failed to get the ball in the back of the net, Aspin agreed with the sentiment.

"Ideally we should have scored seven or eight goals which would have looked more handsome but for us the win is the most important thing.

"I think we were a little bit relaxed. Maybe in training we don't always take our chances and that comes into the games, so if we are a little bit more clinical then we can score more goals."

Visitors Accrington Stanley, finished bottom of the league last season with no wins. This campaign, they have got only one draw and a win and currently have the poorest goal difference. They made no threat to PNE who opened the scoring on seven minutes.

Aspin played the ball up the right flank to Ash Higgins who took Accy's centre half down before sending the ball towards the far post. Tom Smyth confidently headed it into the back of the net, scoring his first goal of the season.

Number two came on the half hour mark and was very similar to the previous one, only this time the ball was played on the floor. Smyth chased down Aspin's effective through ball into open space and played it to Higgins who easily tapped it in.

Adam Barton came on on 65 minutes and finished off Preston's day with some beautiful skills two minutes later. Arran McCarthy provided Aspin with a neat pass who slipped it through to Barton. The striker took one touch before putting in his first of the season.

Although Preston travelled long journeys with the ball rather than passing it, and only took half of their chances, the build up to all three goals was close to perfection.

The Lilywhite's comfortable win also brought the second clean sheet of the season, but Coach Jamie Hoyland felt as if his players at times were a little complacent.

"It was enough to win the game, that's all today really. I think the lads just played it at that level, which is a bit disappointing because you need to be at your top quality all the time.

"Even though we were not playing well we probably had another ten chances where you're looking for people to score. They just thought every time we get the ball we just have to knock it forward and then we will score.

"They were a bit too complacent, they have got to add more quality to their game, it doesn't matter who you're playing against, you got to have more quality with your play."

Although the gaffer felt his side never took the game to the next level, Mike Aspin, Matty Mainwaring and Danny Mayor rightfully deserved their praise.

Mainwaring was skipper of the day and lived up to his nickname - "captain Mainwaring" - in style.

Jack Cudworth also deserves a mention even if he did not have an awful lot to do, he kept kept the score and showed really good communication skills.

Preston North End: Jack Cudworth, Mike Aspin, Ciaron Barton, Mark Bloxam (Ray Shearwood 60), Chris Rogers, Danny Mayor (Adam Barton 65), Tom McMahon, Phil Appiah, Matty Mainwaring, Tom Smyth, Ash Higgins (Arran McCarthy 60).

By Frida Larsson