Bristol City star believes Preston North End have 'really good' manager in Ryan Lowe

Bristol City midfielder Joe Williams believes Preston North End have a 'really good' manager in Ryan Lowe - and expects a difficult encounter at Deepdale this weekend.

The two Championship sides - who drew one apiece on the opening day of the season - return to league action on Saturday. PNE are looking to bounce back from three successive defeats, including the FA Cup loss at Chelsea.

The Robins drew at West Ham United last time out, but tasted defeat in their previous Championship outing - at home to Millwall. That was City's first loss in five league games though, having picked up 10 points from the four prior. Williams says he and his team mates will need to be switched on from start to finish in Lancashire.

"Yeah listen, I think Preston are a good side," said Williams. "Really well organised; they came to our place and I thought they were really good; started off really well. I think the manager is really good and they are obviously going through a bit of a toughish time now. But yeah, they will be at home and I think they might want to come after us and frustrate us. We've got to be able to adapt and problem solve on the pitch. The gaffer can give us all he can out there and we've got to take it all in. Hopefully we can make that work come Saturday."

As for Manning, who has overseen four wins, four draws and four defeats in his 12 matches as Bristol City boss, he praised the honesty of North End's team. The former Oxford United boss has caught some of Preston's recent games and says it will be a 'really tough game'. As for PNE's approach on the day, the Robins chief isn't 100 per cent sure what to expect.

"I am not sure to be fair," said Manning. "I think they've done both (come at teams, and sit in a deep block). Ryan is a good coach, so they've got the ability to do both and we have to be prepared. We have to make sure we adapt to what they do and problem solve. We do all the work and spend ages in terms of prepping for games, but we have to put a lot of trust in the players and challenge the players - that, when the game starts, they have to solve a problem. Everything we show them in animations and talk about, it might look different. So, it's really important we have players who can think and understand the game and why they do everything."

On PNE, he added: "I think when you look at them, they are really hard working, honest and well organised. I watched them live, in the office to be fair, against Sunderland. And I thought they caused them real problems in the second half - and I saw bits of them against Chelsea as well. What we mustn't do is look at their recent results, because performances don't always reflect that. I think they carry a threat and are well organised, honest and hard working team. We need to make sure we are at the same level of preparation and detail of what we do - then it's making sure our heads are in the right space, to control what we can."