Ryan Lowe makes Preston North End admission ahead of derby clash with Blackpool

Preston boss Ryan Lowe is looking forward to seeing a packed-out Deepdale during North End’s derby clash with Blackpool this evening. 

The Preston boss says attendances haven’t increased as much as he’d hoped when he took over, due to results on the pitch, but said he is looking forward to sampling the Deepdale atmosphere in full voice tonight.

“We want to bring full houses back to Deepdale.” Lowe told the Lancashire Post.

“Crowds haven’t gone up as much as I would have liked but that is down to the results in games.

“If we were in the play-off positions around now, Deepdale would be packed every other week. It is no coincidence that when teams win games of football and are fighting for something, fans will come in their numbers.

“We want that to happen here, I’m really looking forward to seeing a packed Deepdale and sampling that atmosphere.”

Preston will be looking to re-gain the bragging rights from their rivals tonight after Blackpool won the reverse fixture at Bloomfield Road in October.

Lowe though, doesn’t believe that fixture has anything to do with this evenings match, as he wasn’t in charge of Preston at the time the two sides last met.

“I wasn’t here then so I’ll leave it as something which happened before I came.” Lowe explained.

“I don’t think it would be fair to trawl through everyone’s past performances.

“I’m aware of what the scoreline was there but I haven’t asked in detail about it.

“One thing I do know is that it wasn’t good enough on the day, that’s all I need to know.

“In this game we have to play with fire in the belly but with a cool head as well.

“It’s important we stick to the game plan and concentrate on playing good football.”

Preston North End vs Blackpool is set for a kick-off time of  7:45pm