Tom Clarke insists Preston will fight to the finish in final five games of Championship season

North End’s play-off hopes look all but over after three straight defeats with Alex Neil’s side six points shy of the top six in 11th.

Leeds are the visitors to Deepdale on Tuesday night with captain Clarke adamant there will be no let up.

“We never stop working and that comes from the manager,” he said.

“He is relentless and that’s what we need to be.

“We’re a group that sticks together and works hard. We were straight back on the training pitch after Reading ready for the Leeds game.

“We’ll throw as much as we can at it and keep going.”

While PNE have kicked on under Neil this campaign, the skipper knows that needs to be reflected in the final table come May.

“You can see from the season we’ve had that we're a team that has progressed,” Clarke said.

“We’re a team that’s on the up. We’ve got a lot of good, young players.

“It’s frustrating. You want these last five games to reflect how well our season has gone and how well we’ve done.

“We want to get straight back out there after Saturday and there’s no better way than in front of our own fans on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to bounce back and bounce back quickly.”