'I fully believe...' Jordan Storey explains what Preston North End need to do to turn results around
Preston were defeated 4-1 by Wrexham on Saturday.
Jordan Storey has been in early relegation trouble before and he has no doubt that Preston North End can get out of it again this season, but they will need to 'tidy up on a few things’ to do so.
The Preston defender adds that the players are trying their best, and hopes the fans can see their current run of results is not down to a 'lack of effort.'
It's been a tough week for North End, who have lost all three games under new manager Graham Alexander by an aggregate score of 9-1.
The latest defeat came at Wrexham on Saturday, with Preston conceding four goals on their travels for the second successive fixture.
PNE were already rock bottom of the Championship, but they are now effectively six points from safety having picked up just four points from their opening 11 games.
It may only be October, but with just shy of a quarter of the season already played, relegation is looking a real concern.
Especially when you consider North End are currently on course to concede more than 100 goals and pick up just 16 points on current form.
Storey confident Preston can get out of relegation trouble
Things need to change, quickly, but Storey, who had ambitions of competing at the opposite end of the table this season, is confident they will.
"I think we were in a similar position when I first came in, where we were bottom of the league in 2018, and ultimately we managed to turn the tide and start picking up points," he said after the loss in Wales.
"I think, from my point of view, I know we can do it with this group of lads. We've got a lot of good quality players here, but I just think we got tied up on a few basics.
"I've been out of this situation before. I fully believe that we can turn the tide.
"We've just got to tidy up on a few things because it's not for the lack of effort.
"I hope the fans can see out there that we are trying our best, but we're just getting punished for little errors and, I suppose, little bits of sloppiness here and there."
After 11 games in 2018, Storey's first season at Deepdale, Preston were indeed bottom of the table with just one win to their name.
They had six points, though, and were only three away from safety. By game 13, they'd picked up four more points and had climbed out of the relegation zone. Preston eventually finished 14th on 61 points.
It will take characters and clean sheet to get PNE out of trouble
Storey revealed the players have already had 'honest' conversations this season about how things can improve and that it will take strong personalities to help get Preston out of the mire.
"I think it's important," he replied when asked if big characters were needed.
"We've sat down already this season and had an honest chat of what we can do better. We've looked at key things.
"Clearly, there's still other things we need to improve on. It's not through a lack of trying.
"We know we need to improve, we all want to improve as a team. Ultimately, we've got to start picking up points.
"So, I think at this stage, it don't matter how we do it, but the main thing on everyone's mind is getting them three points."
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If results are going to turn then Preston need to stop conceding. The club has now gone 27 games since their last clean sheet on February 7, a club record.
"It has been too long," Storey said. "That's something that we've also looked on and we know it's not good enough.
"Defenders and keepers, they pride themselves on clean sheets. It's disappointing.
"There's times where we should have seen games out this season, we should have had a clean sheet here and there, we've just not managed to do that.
"It's definitely something we've looked at, and it's definitely something we're eager to put right."
The next opportunity to do that is at home to West Brom on Saturday.