FREDDIE'S STILL GOT THE FAITH

PRESTON goalkeeper Freddie Woodman hopes a recent surge in form has dispelled the "dark clouds" circling over Deepdale.

- Chris Dunlavy

Ryan Lowe's side topped the Championship table in September after starting the season on an eight-game unbeaten run.

But an autumn horribilis saw the Lilywhites lose seven of their next 11 matches, a sequence that included heavy defeats to West Brom, Leicester, and Middlesbrough.

The rot was stopped with a creditable 0-0 draw at in-form Norwich before a 3-1 win over Huddersfield in midweek lifted Preston back to within a point of the play-offs.

"If you pick up numerous wins in a row - as we did - then people start to hold you to those standards," says Woodman. "That can cause problems.

"Even within the group, that's kind of true. We're in a position now where we're close to the play-offs and we've got an opportunity to do something this season if we keep putting in performances.

"If you'd said at the start of the season that this is where we'd be at Christmas then, yeah, I'd probably have taken it. But after the start we had, being top of the league, you can't help but feel a bit frustrated. I'm sure the fans feel the same way.