MARK Rankine is hoping Preston just have that little bit of luck tonight when they make the trip to struggling Sheffield Wednesday.

A run of four games without a loss came to an end on Saturday when Crewe scored in the last minute through a controversial free kick, awarded by the assistant referee.

"I do not think we are getting much luck at the moment," said the midfielder, who scored his first goal of the season in the 2-1 loss.

"Last season everything did probably go for us and if we had scored in the first half against Crewe we could have gone on and won 3-1, like we did last season but it is not happening at the moment.

"Usually these things even themselves out but you cannot legislate for linesman's mistakes or referee's decisions. We just have to hope we will get our share of the good ones and get some right results."

Rankine is at a loss for what has gone wrong after North End were never out of the top ten last term but have won just three league games out of 11 so far.

They are facing an Owls side who have won just one league encounter all season - and haven't won in ten games.

"I think we were slow out of our stride and perhaps that was a hangover from last year," admitted Rankine. "We were slow to get into our tempo and play like we know Preston can.

"In the last four or five games it was more like us and if we had got something out of the game on Saturday, it would have been five games unbeaten and people would say we were on a good run.

"That is why it was so disappointing on Saturday as we felt we deserved three points. We would have been disappointed with a draw.

"We didn't play badly and we have now got to get onto another run and get some consistency."

The Owls game is even bigger as it is a prelude to a game a lot of North End fans have been waiting for - the visit of Kevin Keegan's Manchester City to Deepdale on Sunday.

"We do not want to be going into the City game on the back of two defeats," said the 31-year-old. "If we defeat Sheffield Wednesday we will go into that game on a high.

"City are a team everyone wants to play and on our day we are not afraid of anyone, but we have got to produce it on the pitch."

Transfer-listed striker Jon Macken looks to have recovered after taking a knock at Crewe which is a relief for Preston as they look to add to the goals for column which currently reads 13 - Macken is top scorer with four.

"We need to score more goals," continued Rankine. "We need to get more from all over although the defence and full-backs have chipped in.

"But we would be more preturbed if we weren't creating chances. We know on a good day, Jon Macken, David Healy and Richard Cresswell all score goals."