The season at Deepdale started with four wins from the opening six games of the season and if that feat is repeated in the final six games then joint-top scorer Neil Mellor thinks that at least an extra two games will be added to the season.

The 26-year-old frontman is looking to force himself into contention for a starting spot at weekend, which would be almost three months to the day since his last start, in the FA Cup clash with his former club Liverpool, but he admits that his form since his return from a double-hernia operation has not really forced the manager's hand.

"I won't make any bones about it, my form has been disappointing since the injury and the operation," Mells told PNE.com. "I have to set the standards for myself and I have been way below those standards.

"I've been working hard on the training pitch to put that right and I think it is finally coming together. When you have a double hernia it niggles away and you have to try and get through it and I think I am finally doing that.

"If I get an opportunity in any of these six games then I am hoping to make a positive impact.

"I finished the season off strongly last season with five in five and if I can do something similar this season, I will be pleased with that. Before my injury I was in good form, I'd got eight goals by mid November and to get eight to ten goals before Christmas is a decent return for a striker and hopefully with these last six games I can find a little bit of that form, given the opportunity to get on the pitch."

Six games and as everybody is saying, 'six cup finals', but PNE's No.33 does not think it will require a Herculean six wins: "We want to end the season the way we started it. It is six cup finals for us; three at home and three away. The lads know what is needed.

"It is going to be tight to get into the Play-Offs, but I personally feel that if we can get four wins from the six games then it could be good enough to get into the Play-Offs. We will be doing our best to win all the games, but I think four wins might be enough to make it this season.

"The problem is that it is not in our hands at the moment. If we win all six games then we should be in the Play-Offs, but those teams above us could also win all six games, so it is all about what we do on the pitch and hope the other teams slip up."

But confidence in the camp that is can be achieved is high: "We are confident we can do it - we have felt that all season. Many people in the press have written us off because Preston aren't the biggest or most glamorous team in the league, but we have just got on with it.

"We have a small squad here, but we have stuck together and achieved some great results this season. It is up to us in the last six games to make it a really successful season and not a disappointing one.

"I think all the players would be disappointed if we didn't make the Play-Offs. Seventh place would be a disappointing end to what has been a very good season. We have been amongst the top six all season and to finish in there would be a great achievement and to finish in seventh would be really disappointing."

Mellor hasn't scored from open play since the trip to Derby in November, a game where North End put on one of their best away displays of the season, picking up a point in a 2-2 draw, but he doesn't think the away form should be a mental barrier when it comes to getting the right result at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

"Our away form has been poor, but we just have to forget about that. The lads know importance of the game. We know that if we win we will be back on the heels of Burnley and Cardiff, but if we lose it puts Bristol City closer to us. If we can win and put six points between us a Bristol City that is a big dent for them and one less contender.

"The players know that when they start the game it is just 11 versus 11 and they are doing their best to win the game. When I have played I have not even thought about our away record, we just try and do the best we can, but unfortunately things haven't been falling away from home."

bets on the game and the Grand National" href="http://www.pnebetting.com/" target=_blank>Mellor is the Club's joint-top scorer with nine goals to his name - back him to make it to double figures for the second consecutive season down in Bristol by having a punt at PNEBetting.com. Remember you can also get great odds on the Grand National at the same time - click here now to have a bet or to check out the odds.