'No reason why Preston can't keep fine form going'

Preston North End go into the third international break placed very handily indeed.

Pre-season predictions would have had them being nowhere near three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough. It really is a far cry from the way last season ended, that's for sure.

At this stage a year ago, they were 11 points worse off. The draws are still a little on the high side, but the defeats have halved and the victories more than doubled.

This represents their second-best return at this point since returning to the Championship in 2015 - only Alex Neil's team in the Covid impacted season of 2019-20 amassed more.

So what have been the factors in this change?

The biggest one for me is that head coach Paul Heckingbottom had almost a full season to assess what he had and he knew things had to change, albeit with limited finances.

Of the 10 players to leave permanently, only really Emil Riis and Freddie Woodman could be considered first picks. Riis was clear that he was leaving, with the club deciding against a new deal for Woodman.

Following the recent arrival of Jamal Lewis, 13 players have come in, with only Odel Offiah costing a substantial fee. The rest were either free agents, loan signings or players allowed to leave Sheffield Wednesday after their issues paying players.

The change has breathed new life into a club that some of its own supporters felt was treading water and had been perhaps guilty of keeping the same nucleus of a squad for far too long.

With such an influx of new players, the hope is that as many as possible hit the ground running, and in the main they really have.

But it hasn't been straightforward. The physio room has been overcrowded for too long. We're still to see Brad Potts, Will Keane, Robbie Brady and Jordan Thompson this season because of injury - that's a combined 788 Championship appearances across the quartet.

Pol Valentin has missed the past eight games, Ali McCann has a broken arm and is on the long-term list, as is Andrija Vukcevic, and Daniel Jebbison hasn't been involved in six of the 15 games. It's a lot to contend with, which makes the achievements so far all the more impressive.

They'll now have another eight games without striker Milutin Osmajic. Providing all of the matches between now and Boxing Day are played, he'll be suspension-free for a visit to Wrexham on 29 December.

In terms of other key factors for the turnaround, some are pretty simple. They've scored more goals and substantially cut down on the number conceded.

They've got the joint best return for home points in the league. They've won five games already, having only won seven at Deepdale in the whole of last season.

And, importantly, they come out of traps quickly, as well as end games strongly. Of 20 goals scored, 11 have come either in the first 15 minutes or past the 76-minute mark.

Sometimes football can be made far too complicated. The facts are that North End have been great. The hope is that it continues.

The squad is infinitely better than the one they had a year ago and there is no reason why they can't keep this fine form going.