Paul Heckingbottom wants more from Milutin Osmajic despite the striker’s brace in Preston’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Charlton.
The 25-year-old netted in the 32nd and 47th minute, either side of Luke Berry levelling the scores, as North End set up a fourth-round tie with Wycombe.
“You always know he is going to work hard,” Heckingbottom said.
“I always fancy him to get a goal. I want him to improve out of possession because I think it can help him help the team but also help him save energy in certain moments.
“There’s still a lot to improve from him but I’m delighted he’s got the goal and I believe he’s a big threat when he’s on the pitch.”
On debutant Lewis Gibson, who recently arrived from Plymouth, Heckingbottom said: “I expected him to play that well. He defends properly. He’s a good organiser. He’ll take the ball and he’s comfortable on the ball.
“I wanted to give him his debut early and make sure that’s done and dusted. I think you can see why he has come in; he started in the middle and then moved to the left (of the back-three).”
Preston had to dig deep against a valiant Charlton team that operate in the league below.
Heckingbottom added: “We had to win the game in a different way. We stood strong but we made it tough for ourselves.”
Charlton boss Nathan Jones felt that his players proved their Championship credentials.
“I think with the greatest respect, we haven’t proved it over the course of the season, but we’ve got a Championship-level squad,” Jones said.
“If you look at our midfield and (Preston’s) midfield, there’s nothing in it. We’ve got three players in there (of that standard). Luke Berry played in the Premier League.”
Jones bemoaned his side’s defending though.
He said: “We gave two poor goals away. Really poor goals. The first one should not happen. It’s an under-hit back pass. It’s an error.
“It doesn’t happen to us normally. We didn’t start the half well. We concede from a corner. We don’t deal with the first ball, give a corner away and then we don’t deal with that.
“Performance-wise, I thought we were excellent. We created some really good chances. I thought their keeper made some really good saves. To say we held our own would be an understatement.
“Tonight we didn’t come here and sit back, we went after a Championship side and there was no difference.”
