'A lot of work to do' says Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe as new season excitement bubbles

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe is eagerly anticipating the new season - but assures there’s lots of preparation still to do.

The Lilywhites are three games into pre-season, having lost to Lincoln City and Southport before Wednesday night’s win at Bamber Bridge. A behind-closed-doors clash at a Premier League club’s training ground is taking place this Friday, before tests against Salford City, Fiorentina and finally, Everton.

Then, the proper stuff will start - and it’s a Friday night showdown with relegated Sheffield United to kick things off for PNE. North End will host the Blades, in front of the Sky Sports cameras, on August 9. A main priority for Lowe is to get through pre-season unscathed on the injury front, as well as getting his team as ready as possible for match day one.

"I am (excited for it), yeah," said Lowe, on Tuesday night. "It's obviously not nice when you've lost two games, but as I say I'm looking at some principles. We had a spell in pre-season last year. I get the way it is... people save themselves and don't want to go all out. It is hard, because you don't want to get injured. But I'm excited for the season ahead. We have got some fantastic games coming up. People say: 'Oo, that's tough, the first few'.

“But it's what you want, isn't it? We've got three new teams in the first four games, haven't we? Oxford coming up, then Luton and Sheffield United. And we've got a good club in Sunderland (in the EFL Cup). So listen, we're all excited for it, but we've still got a bit of work to do. We've got a lot of work to do, before then. Once the week of it comes and the build-up, we'll be fit, strong and mentally ready. And we are going to have a right good go of it, yeah."