Northern has confirmed why one of only two trains scheduled to arrive before the start of Blackburn Rovers' trip to Preston on Sunday was cancelled.

Rovers' match away at Deepdale was scheduled to kick off at 12pm on Sunday (September 22), meaning there were only two trains arriving at Preston in time to make it to the ground.

The first of these, the 9.11am departing from Blackburn, was cancelled, meaning only the 10.04am service was available to take fans.

The train operator said this decision was taken so resources could be reallocated to run services for fans later that day.

The service that did run was comprised of two units with a total of four carriages, which Northern said is the maximum capacity they can provide in a single service on this route.

They added that the service was full but nobody was left behind on the platform at Blackburn or intermediate stops at Mill Hill, Cherry Tree, Pleasington, Bamber Bridge, and Lostock Hall due to the train being over capacity.

A spokesperson said: "We operate as many services as possible, but there are challenges in the North West on Sundays as they are outside the working week for the majority of our conductors and we rely on those who agree to work overtime.

"Last Sunday we prioritised this route to ensure we had the resources to run services for fans travelling to Preston for the match. 

"We constantly review demand across the network and look to increase capacity so customers can safely travel to events like football games."

The service arrived at Preston around three minutes late but with no reported incidents due to passenger numbers.

The game at Deepdale ended in a goalless draw, leaving Rovers fourth in the Championship after the first six games of the season.