Why Preston North End fans could be glad to have had such a gruelling away schedule so far

PNE have left themselves in a good position ahead of their return to action this weekend against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, 12pm, and are level on points with the play-offs.

They face one of the high fliers in the league in Rovers, who are third but are five points off bitter rivals Burnley after their defeat in the East Lancashire derby in their final game before the World Cup break.

The trip to Ewood is a short one for North End fans, only a 21 miule round trip from Deepdale.

That will be more than welcome for Ryan Lowe’s side and the travelling contingent given the mileage they have got through so far.

North End have had 10 away games so far this season, at a grand total of 2892 miles. Amongst those trips were the long treks of Norwich, Bristol, Sunderland, Cardiff and Reading, and that’s not all.

Throw in Luton and Coventry as well and add those games up and it comes to 2702 miles, an average of 386 miles travelled across just seven league matches.

The other three, Wigan, Blackpool and Huddersfield have felt like a trip to the shops compared to the rest of the journeys involved in following the Lilywhites so far this season.

The trips have been made easier by North End’s good away record too. Only Sheffield United can better PNE’s return of 18 points from their 10 away games so far, and the Blades have just two more points having played a game more.

It’s a much easier return to action this time around than last time too, opening with a trip to Sunderland swiftly followed by away games at Norwich and Bristol in October after the last international break.

This time it’s Rovers away, QPR at home and then a week off for Christmas. Huddersfield Town at home on Boxing Day is followed by trips to West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City, it could be a lot worse when it comes to mileage.

It could hopefully leave Lowe’s side feeling rejuvenated for that little bit longer as they look to secure a play-off spot.