Northern Ireland midfielder Ali McCann looking to keep form up with Preston North End in the new Championship season

North End, for the second year running, open their season by facing the League One champions who this time around are Wigan Athletic.

There have already been 4,000 ticket sales for the game on Saturday.

PNE were one of the form sides in the division during 2022, as one of the sides with the most number of points picked up.

McCann wants to see more of the same this season and is glad that pre-season is out of the way and the real games can kick in.

He told the Lancashire Post: "We were in a good place towards the end of last season so it's just about picking up the momentum that we left off.

"We finished with two wins at the end of last season so if we can kick off where we left off, that would be brilliant.

"That's what you play football for, the proper stuff. We've got all the fitness up to the standard and everyone is just buzzing for next week.

"We're going to try and start our campaign well.”

There is growing optimism around Deepdale towards this season, particularly as North End are adding to their ranks again.

They started the summer with four signings and boss Ryan Lowe wanted four more, with Troy Parrott recently coming through the door.

Lowe has struck a chord with fans and players alike since arriving at Deepdale and McCann feels that the players can feed off their boss as they enter the 2022/23 season.

Starting the season strongly, which has not been the case often at Preston in recent years, is important.

He said: “It's a massive season. You can tell from the manager and the way he talks, he has a vision for this club moving forward and everyone is buying into it.

"We're ready for the proper stuff now and we want to start off on a good foot and that should stand us in good stead moving forward.

"We need a strong start, you don't want to be on the back foot after the first couple of games.

"If you can start strong, it puts you in a good position, particularly in the first five games.”