Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe ready for tactical battle against Burnley's Vincent Kompany

The Clarets are setting the pace at the top of the Championship this season with their Belgian boss having his side use a distinctive style of play that centres around possession and attacking football.

No teams have been able to best Burnley on their own patch so far this season, but that is the task ahead for Lowe and his coaching staff.

Lowe, his assistant Mike Marsh and first team coach Paul Gallagher will be putting their heads together in order to get one over on their Lancashire rivals.

Lowe said: “Me, Marshy and Gally have already been planting the seeds in what it looks like. I was there on Tuesday night watching them against Ipswich and - I thought they were fantastic in and out of possession - Burnley were just as good.

"They made a few changes but in terms of their style, they're on the front foot, press forward, pass forward, they interchange their players at the top end of the pitch. They have the midfielders and the full backs pushed high, their full backs come inside to make an extra midfielder.

"It is going to be a tactical battle. Ultimately it's 11 players on the pitch with each other, the communication and organisation is going to be really key to that because of the way they play.

"There are gaps in there that we feel we can exploit as well. I'm sure Vincent will be doing the same, looking at our weaknesses and strengths and we're looking at theirs. As a tactical battle it's definitely one that's going to be challenging.”

Whilst Burnley have the best home record in the league – and the best away – PNE’s away record is very impressive. Only the top two sides in the league can better their return so far.

Lowe sees Saturday’s game as an opportunity to keep that up and for them to prove themselves.

He said; “It's an opportunity to stand up and be counted but we've always given a good account of ourselves on the road and that's what we'll continue to do. Some teams can undo you with a bit of quality, some teams can undo you with some mistakes, whatever it may be, but what we've got to do is go there confident that we can get a result and confident that we can perform.

"Ultimately, we know they're a good team but they're in our division and it's a level playing field. It's 11 v 11. In terms of us we've just got to go there and give a good account of ourselves as always.”