Town goalkeeper Alex Palmer felt last weekend’s home draw with Southampton was a step in the right direction.

The Blues have taken a point from both of their Championship matches so far this season, having struck a stoppage-time equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Birmingham City prior to Sunday’s clash with the Saints that ended in the same scoreline.

By Palmer’s own admission, the trip to St Andrew’s on the opening night of the campaign was far from Town’s coherent best with Kieran McKenna’s side scoring with their only shot on target from the penalty spot.

But with arguably two of the most challenging matches of the season out of the way, the Town goalkeeper is confident that an improvement in results is on the way.

“The Blues [Birmingham] game, they built it really well with the atmosphere,” he said. "It obviously wasn’t our best performance, I think we’re honest enough to say that.

“The Southampton game was a step in the right direction, the performance was better, we created a lot more chances. But we’re going to get better as a team, it’s still a new team with new lads coming in so I can really say we’re taking steps in the right direction.”

Asked if there was extra noise at St Andrew’s being a former West Bromwich Albion player, Palmer said: “Not necessarily, no. I think fans forget pretty quickly. It’s generally the other side of Birmingham you’ve got to worry about.

“It was a good atmosphere, they did well and made it tough for us. I think a point was a good result to come out on.”

Town will aim to pick up their first victory of the season this weekend as they make the long trip to Preston North End for the first Saturday afternoon match of the campaign.

The Lilywhites are unbeaten across three matches in all competitions this term under Paul Heckingbottom, claiming four points from their two league matches.

Palmer is expecting a different challenge to what the Blues have faced so far this season.

“Tough, physical game,” he said. “Every game that I’ve been there has been a tough game. They’ve got threats from set pieces and from front men that are big lads, so it’s going to be a tough game for us.

“That’s why the Championship is so tough, there’s so much change in style and physicality. That’s what everyone loves about the Championship, it’s so strong and anyone on their day can beat anyone.

“We’re going there to try and impose our style and our football and, first of all, try and play well, but we need to be deserving of the win.

“The start of the season is always good to get a foothold. The fixtures are kind to us in a way, there’s not too many to start with. It gives us these weeks leading into games that we can really get some work in and get a real focus on what’s needed for the game on the weekend.”

Preston striker Milutin Osmajić has made a strong start to the season, netting in both of the Lancashire side’s league matches so far.

On his threat, Palmer said: “We all know he can be a handful, but that’s obviously what the training sessions are for to get ready for their strengths, what we need to look out for and how to deal with them.

“It’s how we can try and impose our game onto them more than anything.”

A trip to Deepdale is a chance for Palmer to return to the venue where he made his long-awaited Championship debut for boyhood club West Brom at the age of 26.

“It was a massive moment in my career,” the glovesman reflected three years on. “A moment that I waited such a long time for.

“It was a massive moment in my career to take on that stepping stone and become an established goalkeeper at West Brom. Good memories.”

A further good memory that Palmer will hope to tick off sooner rather than later is his first clean sheet in a Town shirt, having yet to register one in his opening 17 matches for the club.

He said: “It’s something that I don’t think too much about. I know that as a team if we keep doing the right things, they’ll come.

“I don’t like the words clean sheets in a way because I know that if everyone does their job, if I do my job, if the team does their job, those will come. It’s not just a goalkeeper thing, it’s not just a centre-half thing, it’s a whole team thing.

"If we carry on doing the right things, we keep putting in better performances and that goes for the whole team, then they’ll come. It’s not something that plays on my mind too much.”

Above all, the main objective is to return to the Premier League by whatever means necessary, and the pressure is on Kieran McKenna’s side to do so.

For Palmer, his half-season stint in the top flight proved enough motivation to ensure the club returns to the Premier League at the earliest opportunity.

“It’s more that there’s an expectation to show why we were there,” he said. “We’ve got to now come back and show why we were there and why we’re good enough to get back up to the Premier League, and that’s all we’re doing.

“We try not to think too much of the outcome, we just want to go week-by-week, try and improve as a team, and then hopefully the results will carry on improving.

“Everyone got a taste of what we want to be doing and where we want to get to. It’s always food for us that we want to get into, and ultimately that’s where we want to be.

“We want to be in the Premier League, we want to be a team that’s established. I think we all tried to take as much as possible from it all.

"You come up against these teams and these players that don’t need many chances, it’s ruthless. As a team coming up from the Championship, it’s tough.

“They tend to have a lot more of the ball than what Ipswich had when they got promoted, so it’s difficult to go there and try and impose a style that’s made you so successful.

"There were so many takeaways, I can’t just say one or two, but I think the main one as a team and as a club was it’s just amazing to be a part of.

"It gives us that hunger to make us want to go back there. That’s where we want to be, competing against the best teams and the best players in the world.”

Photo: TWTD

flykickingbybgunn added 08:09 - Aug 22 A first win of the season would be good for everybody. Settles the players nerves and ours. We have played two of the teams that are going to be there or thereabouts and we have not lost. So now we go again. COYB
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Suffolkboy added 08:11 - Aug 22 Uncomplicated and genuine assessment all round ; clear purpose and evident hunger . COYB
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