Preston North End have a task on their hands if they're to better last season's points tally

North End have three games in the space of seven days starting today with the visit of Cardiff City to Deepdale, and then two away trips to Rotherham United and Middlesbrough all to come.

The Cardiff game is also PNE’s only game at home this month, which puts added importance on the fixture.

But speaking on Thursday in the pre-match press conference, boss Ryan Lowe spoke about his target of bettering last season’s points total – or to at least match it.

If PNE are to match last season’s total they would need 17 points out of a possible 33 available. Averaging two points a game, across the whole season, is generally seen as promotion form – so Preston need promotion form between now and the end of the season to finish at the same spot as they did last year.

They would also need promotion form in the face of genuine promotion contenders, such as second place Sheffield United, their closest rivals Middlesbrough in third, fourth placed Blackburn Rovers and also seventh placed Millwall. Only Blackburn will be coming to Deepdale, although that might be a blessing in disguise with North End’s form at home this season.

Of course, it isn’t as simple as saying that if they do not pick up 17 points then they have not done as well as last season, or that there has been a drop-off, or any of a myriad of judgements. But it is a metric used season to season by sides to see if they’re going in the right direction and at the right pace.

This season’s Championship is quite different to last season’s. Although some will argue that it is a worse Championship than we’re used to seeing, and that might be true, the open nature of the league and the places up for grabs may have brought the average points totals down for some clubs.

With little to split between a lot of clubs – aside from those running away at the top – it could be that points have been more spread out this season.

Seventy-five points last season would have seen a team secure a play-off spot, in the current scenario, sixth placed Norwich City would need to pick up 20 points from their 11 games, or seven wins.

Last season 64 points got PNE 13th spot, in their first two seasons in the Championship they twice recorded 62 points, and were twice 11th.

So points totals are not a perfect barometer to how a team is progressing but it’s a marker that has been set by the manager, which may come back to bite him.

In the same way as Lowe spoke passionately towards a fanbase that then turned on him in part, Lowe might find himself wishing he’d bitten his tongue. He’ll get more of a ticking off from PNE fans for setting a target and not reaching it than he would praise for setting one and hitting it.

But of course, the sub plot over the next week will be how their form sets them up for the international break, especially given there will be visitors from the seaside looking to do the double over them immediately after.