Former Crystal Palace and Birmingham star's message to Preston North End faithful after QPR defeat

Former Crystal Palace and Birmingham striker Clinton Morrison has a clear message for Preston North Ends fans who are growing increasingly frustrated with the Lilywhites’ form.

The Sky Sports pundit believes the Deepdale faithful need to stick with Ryan Lowe as he tries to navigate his way through choppy Championship waters.

Morrison was reacting to boos heard at the final whistle of Friday night’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of QPR. The loss was PNE’s third on the bounce and their seventh in the league since September 30 - enabling supporters to quickly forget the fantastic start to the season Lowe & Co had, when they topped the table following six wins from their opening seven games.

However, Morrison claimed that the brilliant beginning to the 2023-24 campaign was always going to be hard to maintain in a division like the Championship, where there’s plenty of clubs with healthier budgets than Preston. And he firmly believes Lowe will turn things around and have the Lilywhites climbing the table again.

He said: ‘All clubs go through periods like that. Look where Preston are, they’re eighth at the moment and I’ve said it with budgets and stuff - the job he (Ryan Lowe) done at the start (is unbelievable).

‘This is what happens. Whenever you do such a brilliant job at the start of the season, everyone thinks you can maintain that. But if you look at the likes of the Southamptons, the Leeds and teams like that, their budgets are ridiculously high, so it’s always going to be a struggle.

‘They’ll regroup, they’ll come again. I know the character he is, Ryan Lowe. I know the fans are frustrated but stick with it. He did a good job there last season. I think they’ll have their ups and downs this season but they’ll start climbing the table again. This is the Championship. There’s going to be ups and downs.’

Preston are next in action on Saturday, when they travel to Norwich.