Blackburn Rovers expert and writer previews Preston North End's clash on Saturday night

PNE’s tricky run-in to end the season continues, facing the second of three top six sides that have stood between them and the end of the campaign in their final five games.

They enjoyed their previous meeting with Rovers, an emphatic 4-1 win in the first game back after the World Cup break. Although, last season’s home game ended in the same scoreline in favour of their East Lancashire visitors.

Blackburn were pegged back late on in midweek, in controversial fashion, as Coventry City goalkeeper Ben Wilson scored a last minute equaliser to salvage a point for the fellow play-off chasing outfit.

North End were beaten 4-2 by Swansea City in a game that ended in chaos as all played and staff from both sides got involved in a mass brawl started by Preston manager Ryan Lowe and the Swans’ subbed midfielder Joe Allen - with both being shown red cards.

With disappointment for both PNE and Blackburn going into this weekend’s game, the sense of do or die is growing but both teams, though the visitors do still occupy a top six spot.

Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Rovers writer for the Lancashire Telegraph Rich Sharpe gave his take on the game:

How do you reflect on Rovers’ season so far?

One of many phases. We had the high pressing, all action, and winning start, followed by a WLWLWL sequence that never seemed to end, then disastrous derby defeats either side of the World Cup break. A desperately disappointing January transfer window was surprisingly followed by their best run of form of the season, and now a team who couldn’t draw at the start of the season can’t seem to stop. Overall, given the change at the club in the summer, on and off the pitch, it’s been a positive one, particularly given they have been in the play-off spots after every completed round of fixtures since October. The concern is the similarities to the end of last season, and the prospect of falling away and missing out once again will be a real sense of déjà vu.

Many have downplayed Rovers’ quality this season yet they’re still in a play-off place, are they getting the credit they deserve?

They have hung about the top six all year, rather than lighting it up at any stage, so I can see why they haven’t really had many headlines, particularly given their early season performance metrics were suggestive of a side doing much worse. However, I do think there has been too much of a focus on the number of defeats, rather than the wins, and feel the way they have gone about things is deserving of more credit. It has come full circle in that their performance metrics are now much improved, but they haven’t got the points to show for it.

Last season Ben Brereton-Diaz was Rovers’ go-to man, how has that shifted this season and who has been the standout?

It looked like he had carried on where he left off last season, hitting10 goals before the World Cup break, but it’s been more of a struggle since, with only four since early November. He hit three in a row heading into the March international break which was seen as a real boost, but he’s not looked right fitness wise since returning from Chile duty last month. Dom Hyam is probably the leading contender for player of the season due to his consistency, while Joe Rankin-Costello has been a revelation since being brought in from the cold in December.

How big is the game against PNE and could the disappointment of midweek linger for Blackburn?

With North End away and Burnley at home in the space of four days it promises to be a mood-shaping, and season defining, few days – so they can’t afford to let the disappointment of Wednesday night linger. However, it’s been ‘the biggest game of the season’ for the past three so there’s nothing new there. I think there’s more likely to be a physical hangover than mental, because the squad is looking stretched, a few injury worries and others out on their feet, so they’re going to have to summon up the energy to ‘go again’.

How do you see the rest of the season going for Blackburn?

The lack of goals is a real concern, and their record of picking up only two points when conceding the first goal has hampered them all season long. So scoring first and needing to keep a clean sheet feels like their only route to victory, which is a worry. They seem determined to do it the hard way, but I do think they will just about get themselves over the line and into the top six, but largely because no other side in the hunt appears to be that convincing. Beyond that, I think Luton and Boro would fancy their chances of making the play-off final though whoever they are to come up against.