Preston North End star 'super excited' for Blackburn Rovers as improved form explained

Preston North End goalkeeper Freddie Woodman is heading into Saturday's Lancashire derby with confidence high.

The Lilywhites have won their last three Championship matches and gone level with sixth placed Coventry City, heading into the weekend's round of fixtures. It's now a quick turnaround for the home clash against Blackburn Rovers.

It was a memorable night at Ewood Park earlier in the season, as Liam Lindsay headed home a last gasp winner for Preston. With Blackburn the only rival for PNE this year, there is all the incentive to go and make it four straight victories. Woodman insists he never stopped believing this season.

"The season never died for me, or the squad either," said Woodman. "Internally, we never felt the season was dead. This is the Championship and it can to the wire, so we knew it wasn't dead. We kept going and kept trying every game. Confidence hasn't really dropped, it's just that results hadn't gone our way. We have managed to turn it around and I feel like we've worked really hard in training, in meetings and with the staff. We've deserved this three game winning streak, but we have to continue doing it.

"We've managed to close the gap; the manager has set us a mini five game goal and that's been a tight focus for us. I'm super excited (for Blackburn). I love a derby day here, it is brilliant. You walk out and you can feel the atmosphere straight away. As a group, we are really looking forward to Saturday. We realise how important it is to the fans; we don't have the Blackpool game this year, so this is the big one for us and we want to do everything to win it."

Manager Ryan Lowe has stuck with a front two of Will Keane and Emil Riis, ever since the 2-0 home win over Bristol City. It's 13 points from Preston's last six matches and with Mads Frokjaer operating in behind the striking duo, Woodman has liked what he's seen.

"Yeah, it looks good!" said Woodman. "Mads is a top player. I call him a sexy player. He makes things happen and has been really good for us, recently. When it gets towards the end of the game, you need the defensive side and I feel like he does that you know? He's getting used to winning flick-ons, second balls and putting his foot in. That is what you have to do here, so he's been great. He's brilliant... I travel in with him every day.

"He's a great character and I am happy for him, because the fans don't realise how hard these people work day in, day out trying to make things right. If you saw it, you would want them to do well and he is one of those. And having Emil back, he's been great and I'd say he looks like a different player since coming back. He really has upped his game. He looks frightening and teams are scared of him, so yeah it's a good position to be in."