'Imagine if we could...' - Paul Heckingbottom reiterates Preston North End ambition in message to fans

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has thanked fans for their support this season - and made clear his ambition to take the club forward.

The Lilywhites head into the final day of the campaign in 12th spot, with Southampton providing the last test of the season at Deepdale. PNE were in the play-off picture for half-a-season but drifted away after the turn of the year.

Heckingbottom has spoken a lot in recent weeks about next steps, investment and more. When asked on Thursday if he had a message to the fan base, the 48-year-old went down that road once again.

“Everything they've given us this season, we've appreciated,” Heckingbottom told BBC Lancashire. “I'd love to talk more openly with the fans, but it's difficult when you're the manager. A lot of the things that I want to say, it is not my position and not my place. My focus is just the football and the players, that's it.

“But I spoke (at) the start of the season; my message has been no different. We don't need the most amount of money to compete, we've shown that. But what we do need is the backing of the fans, the fans to understand how hard we work, how hard we compete, what we do well.

“But we also need to have that expectation in check of really, right now, where we should be in this Championship is nowhere near where we are... nowhere near. But I don't want to be saying that just for a pat on the back; I say that to reinforce what I've been saying. Imagine if we could make slight improvements, slight nudges and then outperform.

“That's why I want to be here. That's why I speak about it. I'm clear about it because I feel if we can make nudges in the right direction, then make sound decisions on player trading, all of a sudden you only need one season when you outperform the budget as much as we've done, and we could be up there.”