Andy Little has vowed to fight for a starting place in the Preston North End team next season after a bitter sweet campaign for the former Ballinamallard player ended with promotion to the Championship. Andy was forced to watch much of the season from the sidelines as a succession of injuries restricted his first team opportunities, and he played no part in Sunday’s League One play off final victory at Wembley. Despite his lack of game time however, he has been given assurances from manager Simon Grayson that he will be given an opportunity to fight for his place next season. “We had a meeting this week and at that he said that it has been a frustrating season for me and a frustrating season for him, but because of what he has seen of me, he wants to keep me at the club,” revealed Andy. “He was happy with how I was doing and there is a place for me this season. He wants me to push for a starting place in August.” If Andy does force his way into the starting 11 he will be lining up against the likes of QPR and Hull in the Championship next season, and he believes Preston will be up to the challenge. “Any games we played against better opposition this season, Man United excluded, we have played well,” he said. “We beat Norwich and in pre-season we beat Burnley and drew with Leicester. When we have played against better opposition we have always competed and given them a good game. Our squad has been a far better squad than a League One squad and there is no doubt in my mind we will compete next season. When I signed I was told by my agent and the manager that the plan was to go up automatically and within a few games at the start of the season it was obvious just how strong our squad was. Not just the 11 but all 23. It was just a matter of getting over the finish line because League One is a hard league to get out of, but we fancied ourselves to do it all season.” That quality was demonstrated by their convincing 4-0 play-off victory over Swindon, a win that Andy believes was fully deserved after coming so close to automatic promotion at the end of the regular season. “We had gone on a 19 game unbeaten run and it came down to the last game and we slipped up at the final hurdle and that was very annoying,” he recalled. “We comfortably beat Chesterfield (in the play-off semi-final) and that got the spirits up. We were given a few days off and the build up to the final was class. We got down to London for a few days and we got our suits made. The manager was great. He tried to treat it as another game and that is what it was really. We had a great start and couldn’t have asked for much more. It calmed the nerves and during the whole game we didn’t really look like losing. It meant there was no nervousness and the boys were able to enjoy the second half. I think it was justice because we finished third in the league and we should have finished second. We deserved to go up, and I’m relieved we managed it because it would have been devastating if we hadn’t done it.” Andy started last season in good form for his new club but was not able to shake off a succession of niggling injuries. While his teammates bask in the glory of promotion this summer, Andy will be working hard to get himself back to full fitness. “In the last few weeks of the season I have been to see a specialist in Birmingham and I have also been to Milan, so I am going about it in the right way,” he said. “I had been struggling these last few months, in and out of training. I had a recurring injury that had been with me all season and I hadn’t been able to make enough of an impact to get back into the team. It has been massively frustrating but I think I have got to the bottom of why I have been injured. These guys are really good and seem to have got to the bottom of it. I have five weeks off in the summer now and I have a plan. I will be flying over once a week to see this guy. It has been a frustrating season but I have got my head down now and I’ll work hard for next year.” Andy Little has vowed to fight for a starting place in the Preston North End team next season after a bitter sweet campaign for the former Ballinamallard player ended with promotion to the Championship. Andy was forced to watch much of the season from the sidelines as a succession of injuries restricted his first team opportunities, and he played no part in Sunday’s League One play off final victory at Wembley. Despite his lack of game time however, he has been given assurances from manager Simon Grayson that he will be given an opportunity to fight for his place next season. “We had a meeting this week and at that he said that it has been a frustrating season for me and a frustrating season for him, but because of what he has seen of me, he wants to keep me at the club,” revealed Andy. “He was happy with how I was doing and there is a place for me this season. He wants me to push for a starting place in August.” If Andy does force his way into the starting 11 he will be lining up against the likes of QPR and Hull in the Championship next season, and he believes Preston will be up to the challenge. “Any games we played against better opposition this season, Man United excluded, we have played well,” he said. “We beat Norwich and in pre-season we beat Burnley and drew with Leicester. When we have played against better opposition we have always competed and given them a good game. Our squad has been a far better squad than a League One squad and there is no doubt in my mind we will compete next season. When I signed I was told by my agent and the manager that the plan was to go up automatically and within a few games at the start of the season it was obvious just how strong our squad was. Not just the 11 but all 23. It was just a matter of getting over the finish line because League One is a hard league to get out of, but we fancied ourselves to do it all season.” That quality was demonstrated by their convincing 4-0 play-off victory over Swindon, a win that Andy believes was fully deserved after coming so close to automatic promotion at the end of the regular season. “We had gone on a 19 game unbeaten run and it came down to the last game and we slipped up at the final hurdle and that was very annoying,” he recalled. “We comfortably beat Chesterfield (in the play-off semi-final) and that got the spirits up. We were given a few days off and the build up to the final was class. We got down to London for a few days and we got our suits made. The manager was great. He tried to treat it as another game and that is what it was really. We had a great start and couldn’t have asked for much more. It calmed the nerves and during the whole game we didn’t really look like losing. It meant there was no nervousness and the boys were able to enjoy the second half. I think it was justice because we finished third in the league and we should have finished second. We deserved to go up, and I’m relieved we managed it because it would have been devastating if we hadn’t done it.” Andy started last season in good form for his new club but was not able to shake off a succession of niggling injuries. While his teammates bask in the glory of promotion this summer, Andy will be working hard to get himself back to full fitness. “In the last few weeks of the season I have been to see a specialist in Birmingham and I have also been to Milan, so I am going about it in the right way,” he said. “I had been struggling these last few months, in and out of training. I had a recurring injury that had been with me all season and I hadn’t been able to make enough of an impact to get back into the team. It has been massively frustrating but I think I have got to the bottom of why I have been injured. These guys are really good and seem to have got to the bottom of it. I have five weeks off in the summer now and I have a plan. I will be flying over once a week to see this guy. It has been a frustrating season but I have got my head down now and I’ll work hard for next year.”