Alexander focused on winning

Sentiment will go out of the window for Fleetwood boss Graham Alexander as he returns to Preston as an opposing boss for the first time.

The North End legend, who was recently voted their fans' favourite ever player in a Football League poll, spent over a decade with the Lilywhites in two spells as a player, coach and caretaker manager. But while Alexander appreciates he will always have an affinity with Preston, his focus this weekend will solely be on ensuring Fleetwood become the first Sky Bet League One club in 10 months to win at Deepdale. He twice played at North End when with Burnley and Alexander insists his head will once again overrule his heart come 3pm on Saturday. "I'm proud of my time at Preston, I really am," the Preston-native explained. "But I think what got me connected to that club, those supporters, was how competitive I was. "When I went back there with Burnley I had no second thoughts about trying to beat Preston. That's what you have to be as a professional and that's what I'll be on Saturday. "I'm going there, not for a round of applause, not for a little parade, I'm going there to help our team win a game; that's my only focus on Saturday." Alexander will not be the only one in the Cod Army's ranks carrying a Preston connection. Full-back Conor McLaughlin and striker Jamie Proctor both played for the club and members of the backroom team such as assistant manager Chris Lucketti and coach Barry Nicholson both enjoyed spells at Deepdale too. Yet Alexander does not intend to even discuss that shared history this weekend, as he will try to instead train his players' focus on the game itself, just as he did before their League Two play-off final win over Burton in May. "There's a core of players there that have that sort of feeling as well," he added. "When we go back to the end of last season and we went to the play-off final and everyone else was talking about the occasion, we cut all that out and focused on the game - that's what got us the result and that's what we have to do on Saturday."