Preston North End will make the short trip to Blackburn Rovers on Friday night.

Midfielder Ali McCann has challenged Preston North End to produce a strong end to the Championship season - starting with a positive result in Friday night’s visit to Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.

Paul Heckingbottom’s side remain firmly in the race for a play-off place despite being held to a home draw by Watford at the weekend and will move back into the top six if they can secure all three points at Ewood Park later this week. However, the battle for a play-off spot is likely to remain tense until the end of the season with over half of the clubs in the division possessing credible claims to be in the mix.

For North End, the turnaround has been remarkable after they only secured their Championship status on the final day of last season by claiming a 2-2 draw at play-off bound Bristol City. Heckingbottom’s first full season in charge at Deepdale has been impressive - although one of the negatives came with a home defeat against Blackburn earlier this term as goals from Lewis Miller and Andri Gudjohnsen helped the visitors to a 2-1 win.

With avenging that poor result at the top of the agenda, Northern Ireland international McCann has revealed the North End players are ‘buzzing’ ahead of the derby clash and he is relishing the prospect of going into the game with an impressive band of travelling support firmly behind them.

Performance

Preston North End's Ali McCann vies for possession with Wigan Athletic's Joseph Hungbo (photo: Richard Martin-Roberts/CameraSport)

placeholder image — Preston North End's Ali McCann vies for possession with Wigan Athletic's Joseph Hungbo (photo: Richard Martin-Roberts/CameraSport)

He told the club website: “I'm happy with how it's going. I think the team as well on the whole has been really good. We've got 14 games left to hopefully finish strongly. It's always nice to be out there playing and hopefully it continues. I think I can just try and set an example with performance more than anything and the more I'm out there, the more I can do that.

“I'm always happy to dig in for the team and try to get results like everyone else and it's a joy to be a part of the squad at the minute. Games like that next week are always ones that you note down in the diary and I think the whole squad will be buzzing for it. Friday night games are good as well. I know the fans will bring a big following to Ewood, so it's one we're really buzzing for.”

Your next Preston North End read: ‘I always thought’: Former Preston North End and ex-Liverpool man’s big billing over Everton talent after Deepdale impression