Ryan Lowe says his Preston North End side will head to Swansea “full of energy and desire” on Friday night.
PNE will take on the South Wales outfit at 7.45pm in the final away game of 2023.
North End will be looking to recover from last weekend’s defeat to Watford, while the hosts – currently sat 18th in the Championship – are under the temporary care of Alan Sheehan, following the departure of Michael Duff as head coach.
Ryan said: “They’ve still got the same players. Alan, who’s gone in as the caretaker manager at this time, has been there before and worked with them.
“He’ll try and stamp his authority down on what we wants, but they’ve still got the same players. They’ve still got some technically good footballers.
“They’ll be well organised and well drilled. They probably haven’t started the way they’d have liked to, but we’ve got to worry about what we do.
“We worry about our performance and our levels, our attitude and our application, because when that’s right we’re a match for anyone in the division.
“We’re expecting a tough game of course, but we’re going to go there full of energy and desire to make sure we get a result.”
In recent weeks, this fixture was potentially seen as an opportunity for Emil Riis to return after an almost year-long absence, but the striker is unlikely to be seen before the New Year.
Liam Millar will be ready and available, though, which is a boost after the winger took a knock to his ankle last weekend.
Ryan said: “We’re aware the games are coming thick and fast over the next ten days of course.
“We’ll put the best team out that we feel can compete first and foremost and put the gameplan together in trying to get a result.
“We’ve got loads of lads champing at the bit. We’ve got almost a fully-fit squad now with 23/24 players training, that’s minus the goalkeepers.
“The squad’s thick, it’s healthy, but we’ve got to make sure we pick the right team for Friday night and whatever that might be we’re just wanting them to do everything possible to try get a positive result.”