'It’s nice to put Preston to the sword': Jerry Yates' praise for Blackpool's fans after derby day win

The striker scored twice as Michael Appleton’s side claimed the bragging rights with a 4-2 victory against Preston North End.

The result capped off a special atmosphere at Bloomfield Road and Yates was delighted to play his part.

“It’s a massive win, a big relief and the fans deserve that after Wednesday’s performance (against Hull). It’s nice to put Preston to the sword.

“The atmosphere? Last year was good enough for me but playing in front of that with another six goals, it’s an exciting game and to come away with the win was massive. But the fans were like the 12th man, they were brilliant.”

Yates’ brace, his third in his last four games, means he now becomes the Championship’s joint top goalscorer with Joshua Sargent (Norwich City), Oscar Estupinan (Hull City) and Ben Brereton-Diaz (Blackburn Rovers).

“I feel like I’m getting a lot of chances, so it’s nice to be in a team that creates a lot of chances,” the 25-year-old added.

“It’s a brilliant feeling for me obviously. Playing a slightly different role on the wing, I’m still adapting to it but it’s going well.

“It’s nice to be scoring goals, but to be honest it doesn’t really mean anything unless we’re getting the results.

“We go into the next game against Coventry, fight for that and hopefully get the three points.”

Claiming all three points in the derby was the perfect response from Blackpool following their midweek disappointment against Hull City.

Michael Appleton’s side looked well off the pace as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat to a Tigers outfit that had lost seven of their last eight games coming into the game.

“Wednesday was a bit of a difficult pill to swallow for all of us because we were a bit low, a bit fatigued,” Yates said.

“But going into the derby, we knew we had to give everything and leave it all out on the pitch and we’ve done that and come away with the victory.

“Let’s hope it’s a springboard for us. The fans have been unreal all season and hopefully that gives them even more to shout about. It’s massive for us.

“The more they get behind us, the more results we’ll get.”