The midfield playmaker believes the return of battle-hardened players like Callum Davidson, Chris Brown and Richard Chaplow – all ex-Premier League performers – as well as the loan signing of Wayne Brown, has been responsible for the upturn in the team's fortunes.

And, even though defender Brown returned to Hull after Tuesday's 2-2 draw at Derby, McKenna is confident North End can push on for a play-off place, just as long as those key individuals stay healthy.

"We have taken quite a few points from the last five or six games and we are back up there in the pack," he told the Evening Post as he prepared for tomorrow night's televised clash against Bristol City.

"Squad-wise we are feeling confident and hopefully we can continue the run we are on.

"It has been well documented that we have had a few long-term injuries –a few influential players who started the season have been out of action.

"When you take a few of those kind of people out of your team you are bound to suffer, especially with the squad we have.

"But everyone is back now and fighting fit. And obviously the results are showing on the pitch.

"We have missed Chappie as he is such an important player for us.

"It's the same with Callum at the back who is a steady, eight-out-of-10 player every week and knows his job.

"That's what we lacked during that lean spell – men of experience."

McKenna is delighted to be reunited with Chaplow in the centre of midfield. The pair, he believes, work well together.

"Chappie is a quality player," he said. "The gaffer paid a lot of money for him when he brought him in, and you can see why.

"You tend to form partnerships with players and I certainly enjoy playing alongside him. We miss him when he isn't there."

Wayne Brown's return to the KC Stadium after a successful month has been a blow to the North End players.

His spell at the club coincided with the improvement in results – the 31-year-old played in six games and was only on the losing side once.

McKenna said: "I think we will miss Wayne. The results while he was here spoke for themselves.

"Since he has been here we have turned the season round really.

"Again it was just a case of an experienced player coming in, a no-frills player, another Steady Eddie, which is what you want in this league.

"He was very vocal, helping players along. And we have missed that leadership maybe at the back.

"We have got a lot of young lads playing together and he has been an old head to steady the ship a bit."

Tuesday's draw at Pride Park left boss Alan Irvine and his players disappointed, even though a point away from home against an improving Derby side was still a good result.

Preston had two thirds of the game and had they snatched a winner they would have soared up into the play-off places.

"I don't think we have ever dominated a half as much as we did in the first half down there," said McKenna.

"I bet Derby couldn't believe they went ahead and then went in drawing 2-2 at half-time.

"It was a very confident performance from us right from the kick-off.

"I don't think they will have got a battering like that for a long time.

"But we gave away two goals – one was a really good one and the other was a soft one – and that is something that we have been struggling with all season.

"But the other side of our game is coming together again now."

Bristol City took four points off North End last season as they stormed through the division only to miss out on promotion in the play-off final.

McKenna and his men are looking to avenge that tomorrow in what has all the makings of a good game of football.

"They came up on a high last year and did what a lot of teams do, they carried on winning," he said. "Maybe this year the reality has set in.
"But they can certainly play football and they have a lot of talent in their squad.

"So we will be treating this game as very tough.

"Hopefully it will be a good game to watch. Both teams try to play football, which seems to be a bit of a rarity these days in this league with the physical presence of teams."

PNE v Bristol City preview in Friday's Lancashire Evening Post

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