Rovers secured a third successive away win with a deserved victory at Deepdale. Two set-piece headers won the match with Lewis Miller and Andri Gudjohnsen nodding in.

Miller’s goal was followed by an instant Preston equaliser. It was a scruffy goal to give away minutes after scoring and just before half-time.

That could have knocked Rovers but instead, Alfie Devine’s strike galvanised them further. They were the better side in the second half, scored a second and deserved the three points.

READ MORE: Blackburn Rovers player ratings with three 8/10s in Preston North End victory

“Congratulations to the boys, from minute one we knew that the first half you have to stood the first 20 minutes,” he said.

“It’s always the same after the international break, there’s a lot of energy. Every team wants to start strong on the front foot, so we knew that we have to be strong to withstand the pressure.

“We did it, and after that I feel the last 20 minutes in the first half was exactly the game plan we wanted. We wanted to be good on the ball, to stay calm on the ball. We felt that the pressure was coming.

“We created chances and at the end, on the set-pieces, we scored a goal. Then we conceded the goal straight away after. I said to the boys at half-time, actually, I think it’s the best thing that can happen for us.

“Because I knew that we have to restart again, to stay focused on ourselves. It’s a great first half, but we go again with more conviction with the goal we made. After that it was a fight, but I think it was a very strong away game again.”

Rovers did that without a number of key players from the spine of their team. George Pratt was handed his Rovers debut whilst Kristi Montgomery also earned a first start of the season in midfield.

Ismael revealed he would’ve started Pratt against Derby County had he been able to train more with the team before the game. He didn’t put a foot wrong and slotted in well at left centre-back.

“Actually, I wanted to go already against Derby, but the time when he joined the squad was too short,” he explained.

“It was less than 24 hours and I didn’t want to put him in that danger. I knew straight away that I would give him time, at least two weeks, to prepare him for the international break.

“So the plan was already in place. It was just a question of time. Now I’m very pleased that he made his debut and did well.

“We’ve won this game with Montgomery getting the first start of the season, with Lewis Miller scoring the first goal credit to him. He was travelling around the world again and came back on Thursday. It’s not easy to manage this, but he made it perfectly.

“It was a good evening with Moussa Baradji made his debut as well. When you think that we’re missing six players, regular starters, it’s a great performance.”