It's win or bust for Preston North End as they go up against Blackburn Rovers for chance of play-offs

Despite losing their last two games, PNE are just two points off the play-off places and Saturday’s opponents are the ones occupying that sixth spot.

If they were to beat Rovers, and other results go their way, as they have been doing of late, they could end the day in the play-offs.

In reality, there is only one week that matters when it comes to ending the day in the play-offs, so not climbing into the top six is not really a big issue. It would be a good marker for them, it would be something tangible to cling on to going into the final two games, but not imperative yet.

Lose to Blackburn and the gap to the play-offs is five, with two games to go. They would need nearly everyone around them to lose both of their final two games to get a chance at the post-season. That just will not happen.

Draw and they’re dependant on other results but their luck will run out on that front. In truth, they’ve done well to last this long losing games.

Make no mistake, Saturday’s 5:30pm kick off in front of the Sky cameras against Blackburn is now PNE’s biggest game of their season.

It didn’t have to be, any sort of results against Millwall or Swansea City could have extended their grace period but that isn’t the case. Now it’s time to roll out the old cliché, it’s a cup final for North End.

It will really be a test of their mettle and a test of whether they are a team that can, will or should be in the top six.

They are boosted by the return of Ali McCann in the middle of midfield to play a part from the bench, Josh Onomah is rested up and Troy Parrott took his goal against Swansea wonderfully, so there are positives going into the derby.

They will be very well backed too. Their fans know how important the game is for the Lilywhites and what a difference their support can make, so they won’t be let down in that regard.

It has the makings of an absolute classic. A packed out Deepdale, the play-offs on the line, evening kick off on TV – if the players can’t get up for it there is something wrong.

I will address the elephant in the room briefly, too. Ryan Lowe spoke to the media on Friday afternoon for the first time since the Swansea game where he was stood down on club instructions from speaking post match, so too a player.

The melee ended PNE’s momentum in the game and robbed them any chance of a point, which Lowe alluded to on Friday afternoon.

It’s not something that needs dwelling on but Lowe conducted himself well on the issue, spoke about it as openly as he could given there is an ongoing FA investigation and turned the focus ahead to Blackburn.

It’s good now that the football can again be the focal point and energies can instead now be put towards getting one over on North End’s rivals. They have some making up to do too, having been beaten 4-1 in this fixture last season, but when they’re down and all but out, this PNE squad seem to step up and perform.