JONATHAN Macken may be going through a lean spell in front of goal but Preston manager David Moyes is not too worried.
The North End striker has scored 21 League and three Cup goals this season -- including a chip over Arsenal's David Seaman in the Worthington Cup -- but he has now failed to find the target in the last six matches.
Moyes says that although the 23-year-old former Manchester United trainee is getting a bit restless, his contribution to getting North End to the top of the Second Division table has been more than enough this season.
"I think Jon is getting a bit anxious but he has carried the mantle of scoring the goals all season," admitted the Preston chief.
"He is only young and this is his first really full season where he has been picked regularly and asked to perform week in week out.
"He was the one who scored all the goals in pre-season. He has played a lot of games and I think he has done remarkably well.
"We demand a lot from forward players, probably more than the others, in workrate and effort.
"Centre forwards go through spells where there is a dip in form and Jon's probably going through this."
Macken, signed for around £250,000 from Old Trafford in 1997, had been in the background in previous seasons at Deepdale with David Eyres and Kurt Nogan the then regular strikers. But he has come to the fore this term and his goals -- taking him to joint second in the Second Division goalscoring charts -- have helped North End establish a five point lead at the top of the table.
And victory today, against third placed Bristol Rovers, will virtually secure a place in the First Division next season for Preston for the first time in 18 years.
"The last few weeks have been tension and pressure, around the top games which have meant so much," said Moyes.
"We (the management) feel it as much as the players, we are all desperate to get into First Division."
Preston have done well against the clubs around them at the top -- including the recent 1-0 win over Wigan where the scorer was defender Michael Jackson -- but have recorded goalless draws against relegation-threatened Blackpool and Cardiff in the last few weeks.
"We may look a bit nervous and anxious but it is only to be expected," admitted Moyes. "Our fate is in our hands, it is up to us and we just have to keep winning games.
"We haven't got promotion yet, and we want to try and secure it as soon as possbile, build up the points, then it doesn't matter if we slip up or not."
Preston's four remaining games, after today, are against struggling Scunthorpe and play-off hopefuls Millwall at Deepdale and trips to Cambridge and then Bristol City on the final day of the season.
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