Preston North End winger Scott Sinclair is targeting another goalscoring away day at Sheffield Wednesday

Nine of his 11 goals in a PNE shirt over the past year have come in away matches.

Having more space to exploit on the counter-attack could be one explanation for Sinclair’s liking for the road.

But he is just as keen to get among the goals more regularly at Deepdale as the season goes on.

There is an away trip for North End on Saturday (3pm) when they face Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

It was a venue where Sinclair scored last season, PNE winning 3-1 in the restart period.

Sinclair said: “When I look at the statistics, most of my goals since joining Preston are away goals.

“If I can continue to score goals regularly in away games, that would be great for myself and the team.

“Maybe there is a bit more space away with the onus being on the home side but that is just one aspect to a game.

“Every single game is different, anyone can beat anyone in this division.

“I haven’t gone further back and looked at my stats at other clubs to see if I’ve scored more away from home.

“I just know that this season, seven out of my eight goals have been away.

“As an attacking player I want to score goals and have assists both home and away.

“If a chance falls my way I want to put it away no matter where we play.

“Hopefully I can keep scoring in the away games and bring some to Deepdale too.”

Sinclair bagged many goals in Celtic colours before his move to Preston a year ago.

His last Celtic goal was at home but previous to that he scored away in a Champions League qualifier against Sarajevo.

The previous season, Sinclair’s goals were sprinkled home and away, so there is no real pattern to detect.

As North End’s leading scorer, it is hoped he can keep the goals coming as they look to push up the Championship table in the second half of the season.

For Sinclair and his PNE team-mates, this was a rare clear midweek to prepare for the visit over the Pennines. There has been a regular diet of midweek football as games are fitted into the condensed season.

Sinclair was glad of that extra bit of time on the training pitch but has become accustomed to the Saturday/Tuesday routine.

“It’s been the same for everyone, this is a unique season,” said Sinclair.

“This week we’ve had more time to train which isn’t a bad thing.

“When you are playing every three days or so, it is much more difficult for managers to get their points across because there is not that time on the training pitch.

“After a Saturday game you are recovering and refuelling to go again on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

“It’s repetitive but you get used to it.

“When you get a free midweek the manager has got more time to get the shape right and work on a few things.

“When you play a lot of midweek games, it does get tiring but your body gets used to it to some extent.

“We know what the schedule is and we get on with the job.

“Our aim over the next 20 games is to push up the table and see where that takes us. This is one of the hardest leagues to get out of, I don’t think you can say any team is 100% guaranteed of getting promotion.”

Off the pitch, Sinclair is facing up to having just as busy a time as on it.

His fiancée Helen Flanagan – Coronation Street’s Rosie Webster – is expecting their third child in March.

Said Sinclair: “Things are getting really busy.

“I think the last few months have gone really quickly but if you talk to my missus she will tell you it has gone on so long!

“We don’t know whether it is a boy or a girl, so that makes it even more exciting.”

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