Preston North End boss has picture with the fans up in team's dressing room and wants unity to continue

The harmony between the PNE faithful and those at the club has been something that Lowe has worked on since he joined the club, with growing unrest before his appointment.

Since then though he has galavanised the fanbase and created a connection with the supporters, with other club initiatives helping too.

The six month building of the relationship came to a head in the summer, with North End jetting off to Spain followed by hundreds of fans who descended on Benidorm and then Campoamor to watch the friendly with Getafe.

The manager and his players posed for a picture alongside the fans after the game and that snap is now up in the dressing room.

Supporters are planning a ‘yellow wall’ for this weekend’s Championship opener against Wigan Athletic and are planning to wear yellow to match the away kit their side will be wearing on the day.

Lowe said: “That's what we want. We've shown them as a team, I've shown them, how we're going to play.

"The togetherness of the fans and the players at the club is massive and we need to keep that. We're going to have bumps in the road but for that to get sold out as quickly as it did is fantastic, I thank them from the bottom of my heart - and all the players - we thank them massively.

"When the players saw it they were buzzing and now it's up to us to go and put on a show for them. It's going to be a fantastic atmosphere.

“That picture says a thousand words. They've travelled not only from Preston to Benidorm, if they can remember getting there, spent their hard earned money to be there in Benidorm but then to travel an hour and 20 minutes to where we were is real determination.

"It shows real support and real togetherness that they want to be here for us. We'll keep that picture.

"All of them since I've been here have been fantastic but that picture says a thousand words of what we're trying to do. That's why it'll be with us.”

North End have the tough task of the League One champions on the opening day, though it is only a short trip to Wigan.

For boss Lowe however it is about what PNE can do on the day, and it being the opening day matters not to him.

“It’s a tough time to play Preston North End,” Lowe said.

“Everything is important, there is no guarantee that you go to Wigan and win. We know what we need to do, we've addressed it all week.

"We need to respect Wigan for what they've done, they've got a fantastic team with some good players, some good individuals.

"The manager (Leam Richardson) is a great lad, he's done fantastically in his first real job.

"Ultimately it's about what we do, there's going to be a test but we'll know at quarter to five on Saturday.

"We want to win as many games as we can to help us consolidate in the top half of the season.”