Josh Harrop says Preston North End’s home form MUST improve

Preston's Josh Harrop has scored in the last two games

The Lilywhites play host to Charlton Athletic on Saturday having lost their last three home games.

Until December 2, North End were unbeaten in the Championship in front of the home faithful.

They were beaten by West Bromwich but bounced back to win back to back against Fulham and Luton.

But after Christmas they lost to Reading and Middlesbrough in the league, and then to Norwich City in the FA Cup.

Midfielder Harrop, who has scored two games running, said: “We need to get three points at home.

“We are always confident going into games but for some reason we haven’t had the results we’ve wanted at home recently.

“It can be a matter of getting the first goal and going forward from there.

“We have conceded quite quickly in a few of the games due to some sloppy play.

“Earlier on in the season we were getting on top quickly in games and going on front.

“When we started getting put on the back foot, we started to think, ‘What should we be doing here’?

“We’ve tended to go all-out attack and got countered which is something we have to learn from.

“In training we are working hard with the gaffer to get things right, find a balance.”

Harrop, 24, has done his bit of late to get a regular run in the side.

He has started three of the last four games, finding the net against Norwich and Blackburn – his equaliser against Rovers a fine strike from the edge of the box.

North End manager Alex Neil has used him on the left, encouraged to bring the ball inside. It is a role Harrop enjoys and has been learning more about.

Said Harrop: “I’m not an out-and-out winger but I can play on the left and roll in to create chances that way.

“If you do that it can be hard for the full-back to pick you up if you have a running striker to work the channels.

“The striker creates the room for you to play in and I enjoy doing that.

“Anywhere along the front suits me, I just enjoying playing as much as possible.”

An aspect of playing the wider role which Harrop is learning more about, is the defensive side.

Against Blackburn, both of Rovers’ full-backs pushed on to cause problems.

Harrop said: “In the first half their right-back was running the channel a lot.

“As the wide player I had to cut off the inside but then when I showed him down the side, he had the pace to hit it and go.”