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Irvine wants fans to raise the roof
Manager of the Month Alan Irvine is urging Preston North End fans to lift the roof tonight and roar the team of the month on to a first-leg victory in the play-offs.
The Preston boss, who scooped the Coca-Cola Championship award for April and then dedicated it to everyone else at the club, wants a repeat of Sunday's 'phenomenal' atmosphere to carry his underdogs through to Bramall Lane on Monday with at least a one-goal lead.
And with the game expected to attract Deepdale's third 20,000-plus gate since the turn of the year, Irvine says the supporters who have helped so much to get North End into the four-club knockout can lift them up to even greater things.
"I know it is a two-way thing," said Irvine, after describing his first managerial award as a 'team effort' for the players, staff and fans.
"But the players will do everything they can to give the supporters something to cheer about, and in return the crowd can make this stadium an intimidating place.
"They were a huge help and a huge influence on Sunday. That was an atmosphere I have never witnessed before inside Deepdale. It was fantastic.
"It is a very intimidating thing for a visiting team to have to put up with that kind of noise. It was phenomenal and my players responded tremendously to it.
"It would be great if they could do it again tonight."
Preston go into the first leg as the outsiders, having sneaked into the shoot-out on the final day by pipping Cardiff by a solitary goal.
This is the eighth time PNE have made the play-offs in 20 years, and all the previous seven have ended in failure.
But Irvine and his players believe this could be the club's year, especially as they are on a four-game winning streak and feeling no pressure at all.
"There is no doubt we are going into these games feeling very good about ourselves," Irvine said. "We feel confident we can win against anybody."
Irvine expects both legs against the Blades to be tight, especially as the sides only conjured up one goal between them in two league meetings.
United are expected to adopt a cautious approach in the hope of keeping Preston in check and then hitting them when the action switches across the Pennines on Monday night.
Irvine said: "These are games which will probably swing on very fine margins.
"They have a fantastic away record based on playing either a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-1-1 system.
"I don't see any reason why they should change too much, because it has been very effective for them.
"They also tend to play 4-4-2 at home and that may be what they will do on Monday, but that will depend on where the tie is after the first leg."
Ross Wallace will return to the starting line-up after his one-match ban, with Simon Whaley likely to stand down.
Irvine is also considering the claims of Chris Brown up front alongside Jon Parkin, after they combined for Sean St Ledger's winning goal on Sunday.
It was Parkin's huge throw into the goalmouth, something not seen at North End before, which was flicked on by Brown and headed in by the Saint.
With the Blades having two players – Greg Halford and Leigh Bromby – who possess a long throw, it could turn out to be an aerial duel.
Irvine is familiar with two-legged ties from his time in Europe with Everton.
He said: "We must approach tonight as a normal game.
"We know that whatever happens in the first leg, it is only half-time and we have to do it all over again on Monday.
"We want to make sure we are going into the second leg very much in contention.
"Ideally we would like to have a very nice lead, but I don't think that is necessarily going to be the case.
"I don't think a draw would be the worst result, because I believe we can win at Bramall Lane as much as Sheffield United can win here."
Find out how Sheffield United are planning for the play-offs
Live webchat with Brian Ellis, this Tuesday
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: 2 C to 3 C
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