PNE striker Neil Mellor has sent out a rallying call ahead of the Forest game by saying that the Play-Off dream is not dead.
Mellor was part of a Preston North End side which closed an eight point gap on Cardiff City with just three games to go last season to reach the Play-Offs in spectacular style and with 33 points still to play for there is still plenty up for grabs.
"The Play-Offs aren't dead for us yet," Mellor told pne.com ahead of the game against Billy Davies' Nottingham Forest.
"It just takes a run of four or five wins together and we would be in and amongst it. The last two games have been frustrating draws and if we had turned those draws into victories then we would have been a lot closer to the Play-Offs than we are now.
"That's why Forest is such a big game, they are a big team in the division and I think if we can beat them then it would give the whole squad and the whole club a massive lift."
The prospect of promotion chasing Nottingham Forest has an added edge to it this weekend with former North End boss Billy Davies now at the helm of the Tricky Trees, but Mellor believes that the Davies factor should no longer be an issue for PNE's current crop of players.
He said: "There's not many left who played for Billy. I think there is Youl, Sedgy, Callum and Lonners, that's all we have got in the squad. They all spoke highly of him as a manager, they said what a great manager he was to work for. We know that their lads will be well drilled and well organised when we play on Saturday.
"You can't forget that they have spent a lot of money this season so you would expect that at a club with those sort of resources and a fanbase at a club like Nottingham Forest, you expect them to be up there.
"They have spent money wisely this year and I think he can be pleased with the players that he has brought in."
One of those players, former Preston North End skipper Paul McKenna, is unlikely to be involved against the Lilywhites. McKenna scored in the 3-1 win over Preston in December but hobbled off after just seven minutes of their 1-0 win over Swansea last weekend and is rumoured to be out for the season.
"I am sure he himself will be more disappointed than anyone," Mellor said of McKenna's expected absence.
"I was expecting him to get a great reception at Deepdale, he was a great servant for the club and obviously we hope that he doesn't have a good game against us. He will be disappointed that he misses out because he was a good player for Preston."
Mellor moved on to nine goals for the season against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night and he knows that a goal against Forest on Saturday will make him the third PNE this season to reach double figures. Despite Mellor's return to goalscoring form, the former Liverpool man admits that it was a frustrating night against the Yorkshire side.
He said: "The changing room was very disappointed at the end of the game, it was a game which we thought we could have won. Once they had missed that penalty I thought that we were the more likely team to win and we created four or five good chances which on another day one of them goes in and we win the match - Sadly it didn't go in so it was a frustrating draw for us.
"I thought that they were a good footballing team but that we should have won the match in the second half.
"Forest are certainly more of an attacking threat and they have proved that this season, they have been top three pretty much all of the season. We had a tough game when we played them at the City Ground so you would expect them to be tough opposition, even though they are having poor away form at the moment."
One of the big positives from Tuesday night's match was the continued improvement in the Deepdale atmosphere, in part due to the excellent effort of the Town End band. Mellor recognises the change in atmosphere and rates it as the loudest it has been in his years at the Club.
"One of the noisiest moments it has been since I have been here was when Lonners saved that penalty," Mellor smiled
"There was a big roar and there is a big roar every time we have a challenge and that inspires the players out there, it gives us a big boost. When you know you have got that sort of passion behind you and that kind of loudness, it really does give you a lift, if we can get it like that on Saturday then I know it will help us."
