Houston took the Dundee United job despite initially ruling himself out during his stint as caretaker boss because he felt he was too close to the players from his time as a coach.
But Pressley, who was promoted in similar circumstances following the departure of Eddie May, is keen to maintain the bond he developed with his players and used to enjoy with Houston while playing for Hearts.
"He was always close, he was very much the link," Pressley said. "When you move into the management side, there is no reason why you can't still have that togetherness and closeness with the players.
"I like that factor. You want to love your players, you want to be with them, you want to be together in everything you do.
"You want to create a unity and spirit within your club that others are envious of.
"I want to be close to my players, I want my players to be able to knock on my door and come and chat about things and I want to be able to have a joke with players.
"Of course there has to be respect but respect has to work both ways, and that's how I operate here. But I want us to be close."
Pressley's approach certainly paid off on Saturday when Falkirk beat Aberdeen 3-1 to stay in touch at the bottom of the Scottish Premier League.
Falkirk had impressive results and displays under May, notably draws against Celtic and victory at Pittodrie, but they often struggled to follow them up and Pressley is now looking to build some momentum.
"The players deserve enormous credit because being rooted to the foot of the table for the vast majority of the season isn't easy, but they have come in day after day with a positive attitude and the result at the weekend will only enhance that," the 36-year-old said.
"We have to keep moving forward and demanding these types of performances. The players set the standards at the weekend - I knew they were capable of that and hopefully now they know they are capable of that.
"Tannadice is a difficult place to go but I think our players will believe they can get a result, because I certainly believe we can get a result there. "If we can do that, the momentum builds and the confidence grows."
Dundee Utd v Falkirk. Click here to bet.
Source: Team Talk
Source: Team Talk