Preston North End defender Darnell Fisher targets top-six finish

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After finishing in seventh place in May, PNE right-back Fisher says pushing into the top six is the obvious target to aim for.

“We were close last season to a play-off place, very close,” Fisher told the Post.

“With that in mind, we can’t have any other target in our sights other than getting into the play-offs.

“It would be silly to say that a top-10 finish would do, we are ambitious here and want to better what we did in the season just gone.

“We won’t be resting on our laurels though, just because we did well last time.

“The Championship is a very competitive division and that never changes.

“It doesn’t matter who goes up and comes down, it is a strong league with the games coming thick and fast.

“Teams come down with money from the Premier League and those who haven’t made it up put money in to try and do it.

“It all makes for an exciting challenge and one which we are very much up for.

“I thought we were slightly unlucky not to make the top six last season.

“We dropped a few points when perhaps we shouldn’t have done.

“Before last season in a team meeting, the manager said he wanted to try and make the play-offs.

“As a squad we bought into that and nearly made it.”

Fisher will go into the 2018/19 campaign with a new three-year contract.

He penned the deal last month, the first of the senior squad to agree new terms.

“To get it done so quickly was brilliant,” said Fisher.

“I had two years left to run on my last one, so for the club to have shown the faith in me they did and get me to sign for three years was very pleasing.

“I enjoyed my first season here and I want to push on.

“It’s not too long before we come back for pre-season and it will be good to see the boys.

“Pre-season training is hard but you’ve got to get the work done and get through it.”

Fisher went under the knife at the end of the season to repair a hernia, an injury he had played through towards the end of last term.

The 24-year-old said: “I had it done a few days after the end of the season.

“I had a bit of a problem with it in the last month or so of the season and it was a case of managing it during the last few games.

“It’s quite a common injury for footballers and you just get through it the best you can.

“Everything is fine now, I got it sorted and I’ll be fine to start pre-season.

“If you have the operation done during the season you can be back in two or three weeks.”