Meddling with the top team’s promotion plans

Hitman Will Keane is confident Preston can spoil table-topping Leicester’s title-winning ambitions.

The Foxes have been flying high at the Championship summit for much of this season.

But Keane, who has bagged 13 goals this season, knows if the Lilywhites can cause an upset at Deepdale on Monday, then title rivals Leeds United and Ipswich Town could still leapfrog them for the greatest prize of all.

The Lilywhites saw their own promotion chase frustratingly fall by the wayside after three successive defeats ended their quest to earn a coveted play-off place.

But former Manchester United striker Keane, 31, wants to finish the season on a high.

“These are the games at the start of the season you look forward to,” Keane told SportsBoom.

“We would have still liked to have been in the hunt and playing for a little bit more, but it’s still a massively important game for us.

“We’re fully focused on trying to put in a strong performance and to finish the season as strong as possible.

“We’re confident if we perform like we know we can do, we can finish the season strongly.

“We’ve made good progress this season, there’s plenty of positives but also plenty of things to improve on.

“But we’ve still got two games left and we want to perform against Leicester.

“They’ve had an outstanding season, they’ve got lots of quality and we’re aware of all the threats they pose.

“But we look at ourselves and we also have plenty to offer – and plenty of threats.”

Preston boss chimes in

A view shared by Preston boss Ryan Lowe who, despite missing out on the play-offs, has challenged his team to rise to the occasion against the league leaders.

“This group have shown what they can do against the top teams in this league, especially at Deepdale,” said Lowe.

“They’re [Leicester] wanting to win the league, let alone wanting to get promoted.

“We know it’s a difficult game, but these are the games we want to play in.”