Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom has responded after an emotional afternoon during Liverpool friendly clash
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom(Image: Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom hopes his club have helped Liverpool with their healing process following the death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. Jota and Silva died in a road traffic accident earlier this month as they were travelling across Spain to catch a ferry to the United Kingdom ahead of the start of Liverpool's pre-season.
The Reds played their first match following the tragedy on Sunday afternoon when they opened their warm-up programme against Championship side Preston at Deepdale.
On an emotional occasion, special tributes were paid to Jota and Silva before kick-off with Preston captain Ben Whiteman laying a wreath in front of the Liverpool supporters and Claudia Rose Maguire performing moving renditions of Preston crowd favourite Can’t Help Falling In Love and Anfield anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.
And Heckingbottom said: “The eyes of the football world were on us and we wanted to represent ourselves, and the wider football world, in the correct way and pay our respects in the correct way.
"I hope that we were able to do that and I hope that came across to everyone affected.
“I'm proud of everyone. I thanked Arne (Slot) for coming to the game. I hope that this has begun their healing process, if you like. I hope that they feel better for having that game and it's a step closer to where they need to get themselves to, without a doubt. But I'm proud of everyone who's been involved in the planning of this.
“The fans, the behaviour, the way everyone showed their respect and also the players and staff. I felt we were representing more than ourselves."
Liverpool won the game 3-1 with Conor Bradley, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo on target, with Liam Lindsay responding for the hosts.
And Heckingbottom has praised both sets of players for the manner in which they approached what was a competitive game.
"It's difficult," he said. "It's a game of football and, listen, I'll credit both sets of players, both sets of staff. It was a proper game when the whistle went and you've got to do that.
“We don't want to risk injuries. We want to pay our respects in the right way. You've got to do it properly but it's tough, yeah. I can't imagine how it is for the staff, players and families affected."
Heckingbottom added: “It puts things into perspective about life and football in general. That was my first conversation with the players. I'll not forget the morning when we saw the news. The whole training ground stopped. We went out, got everyone together and just reminded everyone that people are always moaning, things going against them, things aren’t right.
“Then you see news like that, it puts things into perspective. I think that's the message. It reminds everyone how fragile life is, but we're lucky enough to play a fantastic game that we all love.
"Diogo, believe me having been against him a few times, was that type of player as well. The game was played in the right way for him, for everyone involved.”