Ryan Lowe expects to come up against a “good footballing side” on Tuesday evening when Sheffield United come to Deepdale.
The Blades face Preston North End for a 7.45pm kick-off – with tickets still on sale – and they arrive level on points with PNE, albeit a place higher in the table.
They’ve also seen recent change in the dugout, with Paul Heckingbottom taking over as manager and he made an instant impact winning his first three games in charge, but they have been on the losing side in their last two matches.
Speaking to iFollow PNE, Ryan said: “[They are] a good footballing side. [They are] well-drilled, well-coached, and play a similar style to us, or we play a similar style to them whichever way you want to look at it.
“They’ve got some good footballers so we know it’s going to be a tough encounter, but it’s one we’re looking forward to.
“I think Saturday was an afternoon with a lot of frustration. We didn’t play as well as I would have liked.
“I saw some good stuff but not to the top end of where you get more goals, but that will be the aim. The aim will be to respect Sheffield United for what they are, but ultimately have no fear and go toe to toe.
“They’ll be wanting to put a couple of things right from the last couple of results. We’re in decent enough form with seven points out of nine, and it’s about what we do. If we continue what we’ve been doing of late then we’re hopefully in for a good game.”
Tuesday evening’s fixture is the second part of a double header at Deepdale, following Saturday’s home draw against Birmingham City.
PNE have lost twice on their own patch so far this Championship term and Ryan is looking for teams to fear coming to Lancashire to face his side.
He said: “Coming to Deepdale over the years and before my tenure was a tough place to come in terms of you knew you were going to battle and people weren’t going to let you off the leash, and you’ve got to work hard for points.
“We still want that but we’ve obviously changed the philosophy and the style’s a bit different now.
“We’re playing a bit more football and that’s key to where we want to try and get to. There’s nothing better than when it comes off, and the fans have seen glimpses of it so far, and we’ll continue that on the training pitch to get better on a daily basis.
“I want teams to come to Preston North End knowing that they’re going to be in for a tough afternoon or a tough evening, and Tuesday night will be the same.”
Ryan's full interview is available to watch for free on iFollow PNE.