Ryan Lowe delivers verdict on Preston North End’s promotion chances

Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe believes it isn’t an impossible task for his side to win promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season, making this bold claim to supporters at a fan event as reported by the club’s media team.

The second-tier outfit endured a turbulent start to the campaign under the stewardship of former manager Frankie McAvoy despite a positive end to 2020/21, winning just six of their opening 21 league games of this season and this is a record that earned the Scotsman his P45.

By contrast, Lowe has lost just three of his 17 league matches in charge of the Lilywhites and this is a record that has allowed them to force their way up the table.

They currently sit 10 points adrift of the play-off zone at this stage with eight games left to play, not an insurmountable total but one that will provide a real challenge for the Lancashire club as they look to pull off what would be a minor miracle in their current position.

Added to this, the likes of Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest both have games in hand over Lowe’s side which will increase the deficit the latter will need to make up if the former two can take advantage of their extra matches.

But the Lilywhites’ boss certainly isn’t giving up on the top six as he delivered a bold statement after being asked about the chances of promotion this season.

He said: “Mathematically we could still do it this season, but it is going to be tough.

“The task is not impossible.”

The Verdict:

Although Lowe needs to set this target to give his players something meaningful to play for from now until the end of this term, it’s highly unlikely that Preston will be able to force their way into the promotion mix now.

If they had appointed Lowe earlier in the