Preston boss Alex Neil admits preparation has been difficult as he prepares to take on Paul Lambert in his opening game as Ipswich Town manager.

East Anglian Daily Times: Alex Neil brings his Preston side to Portman Road this weekend. Picture: PAAlex Neil brings his Preston side to Portman Road this weekend. Picture: PA (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Neil who, like Lambert, has previously led Norwich to promotion to the Premier League, brings his North End side to Suffolk sitting four places and five points ahead of the Blues.

He said: “You can pay some relevance to the games they have played, because the players don’t change – it is still the same players who are there, however, the focus really does shift from them to us, because how they will play, who will be selected, you don’t really have anything to go off, so we will focus on how we will play and how we are going to perform.

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“Paul being there certainly changes things, but at the end of the day it is 11 players versus 11 and we have to focus on the things we are good at and make sure we try and take that into the game.”

“Our approach to each game is balanced – we pay attention to what the opposition are going to do, so we can counteract it, but we also focus on what our strengths are and how we improve that and in an attacking sense that has improved this season and our defensives has looked a bit more solid in the last couple of games and we want to get back to keeping clean sheets again.”