Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe admits there is no pressure on his side ahead of Bristol City trip

Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe and his confident squad of ‘underdogs’ are primed and ready for the start of another Championship tilt.

After narrowly missing out on the play-offs last term, the Lilywhites get their 2023/24 campaign under way on Saturday with a tough-looking trip to Nigel Pearson’s Bristol City.

It’s set to be a mammoth task again for Lowe and his players as giants the likes of Leicester, Leeds, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday enter the second tier scrap this season, but the PNE gaffer is relishing the undoubted battles that await.

“It’s going to be tougher this season,” said Lowe.

“But look at what Luton did last season – nobody will have given them much hope of getting into the Premier League. They had that contingency plan to get where they wanted to, and I’m really pleased for Rob and his staff now they’ve got there.

“This season is going to be a lot harder because of numerous reasons. Look at the teams who missed out on promotion last time, there’s teams spending money and bringing in players left, right and centre, spending millions of pounds.

“We’re under no illusions, it’s going to be tough, but that’s what we want, that’s what the Championship is about.

“There’s going to be a large amount of games we go into as underdogs, and that’s fine, but as long as we follow our philosophy and our style we want to try and win games of football, then we knew we’ll compete as much as we can and see where that takes us.

“I’m not going to sit here and say ‘we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that’, but ultimately you’ve got to try and collect as many points as you can.

“There’s no pressure from me, and there’s no pressure from up above that we need to set the world alight or win the league, so we will use that underdog tag as an advantage. That’s not being disrespectful to us – its just a case of when we go to play big teams and big clubs with massive finances, you’ve just got to go there and roll your sleeves up.”

He added: “There’s some big teams coming down we know, but this will be a reality check for them in terms of what the Championship is. Undoubtedly, though, it’s better now than it has been for years.”

The trip to a packed-out Ashton Gate would be a tricky opener for anyone – a fact certainly not lost on a confident Lowe.

He said: “Bristol City away is always going to be a difficult start for anyone. Nigel has done a terrific job down there, they’ve got a real identity.

“They’re bringing players through and selling players, but they’re spending money too. I saw Nigel said the other day that it’s going to be a tough old slog this season, and he’s not wrong, but it’s something every club will be relishing.

“They’ve scored a lot of goals in pre-season I know, but anything can happen on the first day of a new Championship season.

“The season isn’t going to be defined by the first game or two of course, but as long as we have that positive mindset on Saturday, we’ll go there full of confidence. This is what we’ve done all the hard miles for in pre-season.”