Since the beginning of February, Preston have been one of the best performing sides in the Championship, losing just once in their eight fixtures.
Nevertheless, it has taken a 1-0 victory away at Plymouth Argyle – their fifth success during that period – to keep the club in the top 10 ahead of the next round of fixtures.
A game in hand remains in Preston’s favour, yet Ryan Lowe is aware that their negative goal difference has the potential to prove pivotal unless they keep putting wins together.
Preston have won nine times at Deepdale this season, losing six, yet they have conceded three more goals than they have scored, while they have not prevailed at their home ground since the middle of February.
Inconsistency continues to blight them on familiar territory, with their last such outing ending in defeat to Stoke City, and that will only encourage their opponents.
There will already be an acceptance behind the scenes at Rotherham that they will be playing League One football during 2024-25 given their prolonged abysmal form.
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On the back of nine successive defeats, holding 22nd-placed Huddersfield Town to a goalless draw at the New York Stadium was deemed to be a step in the right direction, at least in the short term.
In the long, Rotherham are a humongous 19 points adrift of safety with just eight matches remaining – they have not posted a league win since Boxing Day.
Leam Richardson will already have one eye on next season, yet he will be aware that his own position in the dugout will not be safe without obvious improvements being made during the run-in.
