'I'll be' - Preston North End man's promise to the Deepdale faithful for FA Cup showdown with Burnley

Cup competitions have been good to Ryan Ledson this season and the Preston North End man is now desperate to beat Burnley.

The Lilywhites host their Lancashire rivals on Saturday with a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals up for grabs. PNE have not reached that stage of the competition since the 1960s and the importance of the match is not lost on Ledson.

Speaking ahead of the game on Thursday, he said: “To get to a quarter-final of the FA Cup is massive. Massive for this club, for these lads in the changing room. It’s one we really want to win. I've had some big nights and big days at Deepdale but this is going to be right up there.

“I'll be making it known to the lads what this really means to this club and what it's all about. We’ve just got to go for it and hopefully we can come out on top. It's more of a genuine chance than when you say ‘Oh, we'll have a big day out go to Liverpool away’ and stuff like that.

“But this is a genuine chance, playing someone in the same league as you. We've already drawn twice with them this season. There's got to be a winner. I don't think we were at the races at all against Coventry (last weekend).

“Sometimes you have them days but we haven't really been like that away from home... maybe the last one was probably Portsmouth. We got a couple of days to forget about that. We went through the game and analysed it as usual, but parked it and there's no better game to look forward to than this.”

Ledson has played more of a central role in the second half of the season under manager Paul Heckingbottom, with captain Ben Whiteman out injured. As touched on the number 18 has had some personal highs in the cup with a goal against Sunderland and Fulham - as well as the winning penalty in the shoot-out versus the latter. Needless to say Saturday is a match he wants to start.

“Yeah listen, I hope so,” said Ledson. “Obviously, everyone knows what it means to me. But if I play or I don’t, I'll be on the side, I’ll be ready for when called upon and I'll be showing all my support to the lads.”

“That shows a good character.”

With no replays in the competition anymore there is potential for penalties at Deepdale, for the third time this season. North End have triumphed against the Cottagers and Wycombe Wanderers already this campaign so there’ll be no short of confidence if the tie goes the distance.

“Well yeah, we've done two out of two this year so far,” said Ledson. “And to be fair, what I will say is every single time lads have put their hand up and said: ‘I'll take one one’. That shows a good character and that's what I'm talking about in this changing room.”

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