'I can feel the negativity' - Ryan Lowe determined to turn the Preston North End tide

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe backs himself and his squad to come through the current challenging period.

The Lilywhites have lost their last three league matches and picked up just two wins from 12 games. Friday night saw North End beaten at home to Queens Park Rangers, having been mauled by Middlesbrough in midweek.

Preston have 28 points on the board, thanks to their six straight wins at the start of the season. It is clear, though, that stark improvement in performance is needed - with several of North End's underlying stats in the league's bottom three. Lowe has been through testing times at Deepdale before and he will be looking to lean on that experience now, in order to come out the other side.

"You can be as negative and as positive as you want, can't you?" said Lowe. "I am quite a positive person. I don't really do negativity, but I can feel the negativity around at the moment. As I say, we've come through one of these before. I always say that tough times don't last, tough people do and I am a tough person - so are my staff and players. We've got to stick together and come through it, like before.

"We probably should have a few more points and if you look at the bigger picture, we should've maybe had two sending offs now - which helps you along the way because you might need that bit of luck. So, yeah, it is going to hurt for a few days until we get the lads back on the grass - working on stuff we feel we can do better. And there is probably a bit of fear in the lads as well at the moment, because of the way we're performing and us not winning games.

"So yeah, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth at the minute but we've got to get through it as quickly as we can. It will be on all of us and it's on me as the leader and the manager, to turn that around. We will work on some stuff with them, sit down in one-to-ones, groups and collectively to find a way and find solutions. That is the only way you can do it. I've seen enough in this squad and group for us to find a way and do well, because we've done it before.

"I am not sitting here rock bottom of the league, with no solutions. It is a worry, but we've seen it and we know what these players can do. So, the quicker we get back to doing what is good, the better we will be. I am going to stick with them, but there are opportunities now for players coming back from injury and players who've been sat on the bench - maybe not getting on or getting on for 10 or 15 minutes. In our next game, there are probably 11 places up for grabs."