Derby County’s unbeaten run doesn’t tell the full story says Preston North End manager Alex Neil

The former England striker has been credited with helping the Rams move away from the bottom reaches of the Championship after guiding them to two wins and four draws over the past month. Meanwhile at North End, there has been a gloomy disposition among fans at certain times after losing miserably 3-0 at Luton Town and then 2-1 at Barnsley.

But on the other hand, PNE have collected three excellent wins as well as a draw at home to Wycombe. Indeed, the past six games have been a snapshot of PNE’s season so far where a fine win has usually been followed by a loss.

While boss Alex Neil would love to see his men show more consistency, unbeaten runs do not always paint a true reflection of a team’s form. “Derby are unbeaten in six but have drawn four of those games,” said Neil, who takes his team to Pride Park on Boxing Day.

“Drawing those four games is the same as winning one, drawing one and losing two. I think consistency is what we all want but if you look at the schedule of games this season, it had consistency difficult and I think we have seen that across the board.”