Preston North End boss reveals why his side have progressed to Championship play-off contenders over the last 12 months

North End were sixth in the Championship after the weekend’s games and it is a far cry from where they were when he was appointed manager in December 2021, at that time 18th in the table.

It shows progress under the 44-year-old but Lowe puts that down to a combination of factors and a combination of people.

He said: “I must say it, the lads are well coached. That's not just me, all my staff - Mike Marsh, Paul Gallagher, Mike Pollitt - the analysts do a lot of work, John Lucas does everything with the fitness, the physios; we're a team together.

"Every single one of us works hard to try and put the game plan to the lads. Whether that's to make sure we rest the alds to recover them or give them extra time in the gym if they need it, extra ice baths, extra massages, whatever it is. It's a team game.

"You can see the progress and the improvement but the players have to take a lot of credit for that for taking the instructions on and they want to be coached and they want to be better. It's paying off in this moment in time.”

PNE’s next game comes on Saturday against Millwall at Deepdale, a chance to make it four wins in a row and five of their last six.

It will be their final game before a month’s break for the Qatar World Cup and Lowe is not fazed by dropping down the table. He wants to there or thereabouts come the break in order to set themselves up for a promotion push in the second half of the season.

He said: “There will be bumps in the road coming thick and fast. After the Millwall game if we're still in there or around it then I can look at it with a bit of pride, that's the first block of 21 games.

"Let's get the lads recovered and get a mini pre-season done for them, we have a couple of friendlies pencilled in there, and have a really good go at it afterwards. We'll enjoy the Christmas period and see where it takes us.”