Lancashire

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom admits he "suffered" during his two-match touchline ban as he prepares for a return against Coventry on Saturday.

Heckingbottom missed draws Burnley and Millwall this week after being punished for a red card in the win at Watford on January 21.

He will return to the touchline for this weekend's trip to the Coventry Building Society Arena.

"I'm the one who suffers," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire. "We do all the work in the week. Game day, I feel helpless.

"The biggest thing is I'm not as emotionally involved in the game as I am on the sidelines. When you are detached you feel like you've lost your right arm.

"After the game, too. It is the not the same highs and lows. People say you can get more insight [from higher up in the stands] but I'm pretty good at that because your work gets done during the week.

"You know what is coming. I just want to be on the side of the pitch."

Heckingbottom says Frank Lampard has not changed Coventry's approach since replacing Mark Robins but expects them to come out fighting.

"It seems to be the same players, same system. They seem to have more confidence and have more energy. They pass the ball with an intent to create and win the game.

"We know it is going to be difficult, going there."

Burnley will look to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Turf Moor on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

The Clarets are five points off the top two but could gain ground with Leeds United and Sheffield United playing each other on Monday evening.

The Owls, who have play-off ambitions of their own, are three points off the top six in ninth.

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past seven league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W4 D3), scoring at least one goal in each of those matches.

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost just one of their past nine away league games against Burnley (D4 L4), though that sole defeat did come on their last visit to Turf Moor in September 2015 (3-1).

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past 20 league games (W11 D9), the Clarets' longest run since a 22-match run between November 2022 and April 2023.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won seven of their past 12 away Championship matches (D1 L4). Since the start of October, only city rivals Sheffield United (8) have won more away games in the division than the Owls' seven.

• Burnley have kept 11 consecutive clean sheets in the Championship. In the entire history of the Football League since 1888, only one side has had a longer run in the top four tiers, with Manchester United keeping 14 in a row during the 2008-09 campaign.

Image source, Rex Features

Burnley boss Scott Parker has said he is not worried about the gap between his side and the Championship's top two, insisting it is a "total irrelevance" to him.

An 11th goalless draw of the season against Preston on Saturday, coupled with wins for Sheffield United and Leeds, leaves the Clarets five points behind the second-placed Blades.

"I never jump on a rollercoaster of what this season or league brings and I've got no interest in what our competitors are doing, certainly at this point in the season," Parker said.

"What Leeds or Sheffield United are doing is an absolute irrelevance to me. If we are not going to win enough games to generate enough points, the facts are we are not going to be successful or get to where we want to get to.

"But we can't jump on that rollercoaster of emotion over one weekend looking at what other teams are doing or not doing. Five points, six points - whatever the gap is, it is a total irrelevance to me.

"At the moment we have got one control over one of the teams - the one we are playing. It is about us being as positive and dominant as we can. But we need to keep churning out results and keep winning."

Image source, Rex Features

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom said his side were the dominant team in the draw with Millwall on Tuesday.

Emil Riis Jakobsen's long-range strike earned North End a point at Deepdale, cancelling out Mihailo Ivanovic's first-half free-kick, but Heckingbottom believes his side deserved all three.

"We were certainly the dominant team but it's a positive point," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"There were some good performances from a lot of the players and we come away from that positively, or maybe it's the fact I'm not up in the stands anymore I'm feeling good."

Heckingbottom completed the second of his two-match touchline ban following his red card in the win at Watford in January, meaning he will be back on the bench for Preston's trip to Coventry on Saturday.

"I bet we've doubled their shots, I bet we've quadrupled their touches in the box," the former Sheffield United manager added.

"We were the more dangerous team, so, I'm pleased with that but not pleased we haven't got the three points."