Lancashire

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  1. 'I was surprised we conceded' - Parkerpublished at 10:19 5 March

    Scott Parker watched Burnley from the dugoutImage source, Getty Images

    Burnley boss Scott Parker says he was "surprised" that his team conceded against Cardiff City on Tuesday to end their impressive clean sheet record at 12 league games.

    Yousef Salech headed the ball into the net for the Bluebirds to make it 2-1 and see the Clarets concede for the first time in the Championship since December.

    The Lancashire side did, however, go on to claim victory after Cardiff failed to find an equaliser and see themselves within two points of the automatic promotion spots.

    "I am pleased with the three points. We started superbly for 35 minutes, dominated and got our noses in front," Parker told BBC Sport.

    "We started the second half brightly but my only complaint is we probably should have put more daylight between us.

    "At the end you need resilience and the ability to dig in and we had that. I thought the energy was impressive. We looked like a proper team who understood their roles.

    "It's a shame we conceded tonight but I'm more pleased that we won. I was a little bit surprised we conceded, we will have to review it."

  2. 'Forget Villa, I'm thinking about Swansea' published at 16:44 3 March

    Paul Heckingbottom talks to his players during the win over BurnleyImage source, Rex Features

    Paul Heckingbottom wants to ban talk of the FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa as his full focus is on Preston North End's Championship game against Swansea City.

    North End are 15th but could close within seven points of the play-off places with a victory on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

    Heckingbottom says it's not an "insurmountable" gap to close in the final 12 games, despite taking just five points from their five matches before Saturday's 3-0 win over Burnley, which teed-up the date with Villa in the last eight.

    "It's not insurmountable, but something's got to change," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire. "I have been happy with our form in terms of performances but our points haul needs to change totally.

    "It's not out of the realms of possibility, but something needs to change in a big way because of the amount of traffic between us and sixth place.

    "That's why these games, for me, are bigger than when we play Villa. That will take care of itself, but all these league games are really important.

    "Everyone's excited about Villa, I'm not, I'm thinking about Swansea and everyone should be. People walking around talking about Villa tickets - let's beat Swansea, that's it."

    The Lilywhites swept aside their Lancashire rivals in the fifth round, scoring more goals in one game than the Clarets had conceded in their previous 15 in all competitions.

    "If we perform like we did at the weekend we'll give Swansea a hard time," Heckingbottom added.

    "The challenge for all of us is to go and deliver the same type of performance and almost forget who we're up against, focus on ourselves to deliver our best game."

    Mads Frokjaer, Jordan Storey and Ben Whiteman remain out while Heckingbottom has not given up hope of Duane Holmes or Jack Whatmough returning to action this season.

  3. Pick of the stats: Preston North End v Swansea Citypublished at 12:37 3 March

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    After booking their first FA Cup quarter-final place since 1966, Preston return to Championship action as Swansea head to Deepdale on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

    A victory for Paul Heckingbottom's side would take them up to 13th, seven points behind the play-off places with 11 games remaining.

    The Swans are one place back in 16th but could overhaul their two-point deficit to North End with a win.

    • Preston North End have won each of their past three home league games against Swansea City, last winning more in succession between 1931 and 1950 (5 games).

    • Swansea City have won each of their past two league games against Preston North End and could win three in succession versus the Lilywhites for the first time since January 2009 (run of 4).

    • Preston North End are unbeaten in their past 10 home league games (W3 D7), their longest run at Deepdale since November 2019 (11); PNE have drawn more home matches than any other Championship side this season, however (8).

    • Swansea City won 3-0 against Blackburn in their first Championship match after Luke Williams' dismissal, their joint-biggest league victory of the season; the Swans haven't won back-to-back league games since their final two matches of 2023-24.

    • Preston North End's Emil Riis has scored four goals in his past five home appearances in the Championship, twice as many as across his previous 15 league outings at Deepdale (2 goals).