THE end may be in sight for Preston North End -- but they are not taking their foot off the pedal.
The Division Two leaders have opened up a seven point gap from second club Wigan, and, although it has been a long, hard season, manager David Moyes says any mental and physical fatigue is disappearing with six games left.
"It's the final run-in, the players have the sun on their backs, there's probably about 28 days of the season to go, so you would be hoping the tiredness is beginning to wear off. They are looking forward to the end of the season and the final games," he said.
And the Preston boss is picturing a great day where his side clinch promotion -- preferably at Deepdale.
"There are not many home games left and, between now and the end of the season, we could have the chance of achieving promotion here.
"The atmosphere has been terrific all season-- especially at home against Wrexham and at Wigan where the fans really seemed to enjoy themselves. I just want the fans to get behind us again for the final push.
"We haven't achieved anything yet. I don't remember anybody getting promoted on 82 points and I cannot see that happening.
"I don't set any targets openly, as they are there to be shot at, but we will need a few more wins to get us close. "
The manager of the month award is often the kiss of death but, after coming through the "naming ceremony" against Wigan, Moyes is hoping the "awards ceremony" yesterday will not backfire against relegation-threatened Cardiff today. The Scot won the award for five wins in March. "Most teams will think they have got the hardest run-ins but, as I've said before, anything can happen at this time of the season. There are strange results. Games that look easy on paper do not happen," he said.
"We have taken two points out of the last two derby games (at Blackpool and Wigan) and that is a good haul from those two matches. We want to make sure those points count."
Moyes still has a selection headache up front. On loan striker Brett Angell, who is going through a lean spell after a blistering start at Deepdale, was on the bench for the Latics match.
Moyes chose to partner top scorer Jon Macken and Bjarki Gunlaugsson together but they failed to get the goals up front -- it was defender Michael Jackson who grabbed the winner.
"It doesn't really matter who scores and it is good to get goals from other positions. I have got a good choice up front, I have four quality players and I can only pick the people at the time that I think will do the job," said Moyes.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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