PRESTON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: A general view of the EFL matchball prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End and Leeds United at Deepdale on October 22, 2019 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)PRESTON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: A general view of the EFL matchball prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End and Leeds United at Deepdale on October 22, 2019 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
PRESTON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: A general view of the EFL matchball prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End and Leeds United at Deepdale on October 22, 2019 in Preston, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

Fresh twist in Preston North End transfer saga, West Ham eye goal-machine striker

Preston North End's current struggles continued last weekend, as Alex Neil's side slumped to a 2-1 home loss to relegation battlers Rotherham United, despite dominating possession against the visitors.

Speaking after the defeat, which leaves the Lilywhites in 11th place and nine points off the play-off places, Neil hit out at his players for failing to put away a number of clear-cut chances, and claimed: "Tom Barkhuizen should have scored the chance he got in the first half. Before that Ben Whiteman was really unfortunate with a free-kick.

“It hit the post, hit the goalie’s back, how it didn’t go in I’m not sure...we had ample chances to score, we should have got something so we have only got ourselves to blame really."

Preston return to action this week, when they travel to take on local rivals Blackburn Rovers in an eagerly-anticipated Friday night showdown at Ewood Park.

The last the two sides met, Rovers pulled off a shock 3-0 win at Deepdale, and the Lilywhites will be out for revenge against Tony Mowbray's men when they come face to face again at the end of the week.

Here's our latest round-up of all the news and transfer chat from the Championship, involving Preston North End and a number of their second-tier rivals: