Graham Alexander: New Preston North End boss says returning to club is ‘surreal’

New Preston North End boss Graham Alexander has said he feels like he has come home.

The 54-year-old, who made 372 league appearances for the club across two spells as a player, left League One leaders Bradford City to succeed Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale on Monday.

Alexander has taken over a North End side that are second from bottom in the Championship with six defeats from their opening eight league games.

“Yesterday was a bit surreal – it didn’t feel real until I had the training kit on,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

“When I got home last night, me and my wife had a bit of a moment about the journey we’ve had to get to this point.”

Alexander retired as a player with Preston at the end of the 2011-12 season aged 40, having had a brief spell as caretaker at Deepdale during that campaign.

He turned down the option to start his coaching career in the club’s academy and has subsequently managed Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford City, Motherwell and MK Dons.

When asked if Preston felt like home, he said: “It does yeah, it does.

“When I took the Motherwell job it was a big decision from my wife and myself to move to Scotland because we’d been so happy in Preston for 20 years but our kids were moving on.

“When we decided to move back to England, I gave my wife the choice of where she wanted to live because she’d been following me around for so long.

“The natural one was either the West Midlands, where we’re both from and our families are from, or Preston and the north west area because of our relationships and how we felt here – and she chose to come back here, which I was hoping she would say.

“It’s been a special place for us.”