Preston North End must win against Sheffield United but it has been some ride either way

We’re at the time of year where the ever complicated permutations start cropping up. If team A beats team B, and team C don’t win by three goals but team D draw having conceded two with a westerly wind…

It can all get a bit silly and a bit overkill to what is likely to happen. But for those following North End this weekend it’s as easy as it can be, if PNE don’t win they’re as good as out of the play-off race.

There is a scenario where they are mathematically out of the race, if Sunderland, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers all win their games over the weekend and PNE lose, there is no way they can catch them. Even if they draw and Preston lose, their goal difference means it’s also as good as over.

So there is no grey area, no more do-overs, no more games to go. This is it. This one is for the season, want to take it to the final day? Win. It’s that simple.

Most people took stock with five games to go, after the Easter weekend and two wins. Since then however Ryan Lowe's side haven’t won. In that respect they’re due a win but it’s also a shame they’ve not managed to give themselves a better chance of making the top six.

You can look to any game over the course of the campaign where they should have got more from a match – Lowe always goes back to Rotherham United and Hull City at home back in August, both 0-0.

But the defeat at Millwall was followed by a hammering from Swansea City, themselves now firmly in the play-off race, has meant that only the point against Blackburn has helped them get towards a points total that would see the first Championship play-off campaign for the clubs since 2009.

They haven’t yet beaten last season’s points total, 63 points got them 13th last time out, they have 62 and are 10th at the moment.

The cynics will say that North End are still in with a chance because it is a poor league this season and whilst the standard in the Championship has fallen off a bit, the gap between the Premier League and the second tier widening, the fact that so many teams a relatively evenly matched makes it a gruelling campaign and regardless, it is tough to keep yourself going for the full 46 games – especially with the amount of fixtures that were squeezed in pre-World Cup.

PNE have pretty much done that though, they’ve kept close enough with the pack and now it’s time to kick from the home stretch, whether they can last the piece, we will see, but at least it’s given something to their fans throughout.

It could be worse, you could be staring down the barrel of relegation with two to go… Instead, Preston are looking up and seeing if they can make it a fantastic season. Either way, it’s still been good. Realistically, this is about where PNE are. Comparisons can be made to Luton Town or Millwall in terms of budgets and where they are, but on the whole, North End aren’t as good as the Hatters and they’re two points off the Lions.

Only time will tell whether this was a year where you ‘had’ to get in, but it’s progress on last season that just faded out.