Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe wants to go out with a bang against Sunderland

Tony Mowbray will bring his Black Cats to Lancashire looking to secure a place in the top six, needing to beat PNE and have Blackburn Rovers beat Millwall to get themselves into the play-offs.

Preston on the other hand are out of the running, but that hasn’t changed the approach from their manager. He wants his side to finish this campaign strong for multiple reasons, to show improvement, to go into the summer with a bit of momentum and also to make it an enjoyable day for the PNE fans attending.

“It's a tough game,” Lowe said. “We've had a tough week where we've had a loss that could have taken us into the play-offs, I'm sure Tony will be expecting it to be a tough encounter and that's what I want to make it.

"It's about us finishing as high as we possibly can and collecting as many points as we possibly can. If we get to 66 points, great, 64, okay.

"I want to finish as close to those play-off places as we possibly can so we can use it. But they're a good team. They're in form, they've got some fantastic players and they're well coached, they travel in their numbers.

"We know it's going to be a tough encounter but it's one we're relishing. I want to go out with a bang on Saturday. We'll have a good atmosphere, regardless of results, show the lads the appreciation and we've needed help along the way as well, with injuries and players out of form.

"If we can nail that down for next season, keeping them in form, rotating them at the right times, less injuries. It gives you a better opportunity.”

There are still casualties in the PNE squad going into Monday’s game, with Ben Whiteman absent for the trip to Yorkshire as well as Robbie Brady.

Lowe said: “Whiteman is doing a bit in the gym, I'm not too sure if he'll be available for Monday, Robbie is on the grass so we're hoping that he can train with us Saturday or Sunday. Apart from that, everyone else is fine.”