Preston tipped to end six-decade wait for top-flight football by former Reading and Leicester defender

Preston have been tipped to finally end their 60-year-plus wait for top-flight football.

The Lilywhites haven’t graced England’s top tier since the 1960-61 season and have never experienced Premier League football.

North End have put themselves in a good position to change all that following an impressive start to their 2023-24 campaign.

Ryan Lowe’s unbeaten side currently sit top of the Championship table after six games and could stretch their one-point advantage at the summit with victory against Birmingham tonight.

It’s early days, of course, with plenty of football still to be played between now and May.

But Preston’s early-season form has attracted many admirers - including former Reading and Leicester defender Liam Moore - who believes this could be the season of all seasons at Deepdale.

Appearing on Sky Sports News on Tuesday, the 30-year-old was asked whether this could finally be the Lilywhites’ year?

In response, he said. ‘I feel like they could do it. They seem to be building a culture there.

‘Obviously, the manager did really well at his previous club and they’ve continued to do well, Plymouth. They came up and they’re holding their own in the Championship - a little but further down the table.

‘But I think over the last year or so they (Preston) have been building something.

‘If I’m right, last year they had loads of clean sheets but couldn’t really get on the other side of it and score goals - but this year is obviously looking better.

‘They’ve already got a healthy goal difference and if they keep going they’ll be right up there.’

Preston finished last season in 12th place in what was Lowe’s first full season in charge.

As Moore rightly pointed out, a lack of goals proved North End’s downfall, with only QPR, Cardiff and relegated Wigan scoring fewer.

Indeed, 18 league games saw Preston fail to find the back of the net - which is in stark contrast to the 17 clean sheets they recorded. They finished the season with a goal difference on -14.

This summer saw Lowe address that lack of goals with the signings of Will Keane, Mads Frøkjaer-Jensen, Duane Holmes, Liam Millar and Milutin Osmajic.

At present, Preston are the Championship’s joint-sixth best goalscorers, with 10 goals already this term.

Keane is their current top scorer with four league goals, while their goal difference is currently +6.