Andrew Moran is relishing his first taste of a Lancashire derby as Rovers prepare for the visit of Preston North End.

Moran has made a positive impression at Ewood Park since arriving on loan from Brighton, making 14 appearances in all competitions so far.

The 20-year-old knows it will not be easy against Ryan Lowe’s side, who currently sit in the play-off places, but he hopes Rovers can make the most of their home advantage.

“There are a few different storylines to the game and it will be my first derby match here, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Moran explained.

“It will be a great one. I know there are a few lads who live in that area as well as a few storylines.

“It is a Friday night, under the lights and I hope the fans can really get behind us, just as they did at Norwich.

“We need that support because it really helps us so much. The fans can really get you going.”

The youngster played most of the 3-1 victory at Norwich over the weekend, eventually making way for Arnor Sigurdsson in the 87th minute.

Moran was involved in both of Sam Szmodics’ goals as Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men secured another victory on the road.

The Brighton loanee is keen to build on the performance during the opening hour against the Canaries.

He also felt there were plenty of positives to take from the way they dug in after Scott Wharton’s red card, which has now been overturned following an appeal.

Moran is relishing the “freedom” attacking players are given in Rovers’ system and hopes they can continue to cause defenders problems, having picked up 12 out of a possible 15 points in the league recently.

“It was a really good performance and we had to show different parts to our game,” he continued.

“In the first 60, up until the red card, we were popping it about lovely and playing some really nice football.

“We had to grind it out after that and I think you need both sides if you want to be good in this league. We showed that and, although we’d have loved a clean sheet, I thought we were brilliant defensively.

“You can see that the manager is happy for us to pop up in different areas and we love that freedom. We are able to do it quite well and it is tough for defences to stop it when they don’t know where you are going to be.

“It is really enjoyable to play in. We have four wins in our last five games in the league now and we want to keep that going.”

Rovers sit 10th in the Championship table but are only three points behind Friday night’s opponents, who beat Coventry 3-2 in their last outing after goals from Duane Holmes, Alan Browne and Milutin Osmajic.