'There's no doubt' - Former Wycombe and QPR boss offers verdict on Ryan Lowe's ongoing Preston North End difficulties

Gareth Ainsworth has backed Ryan Lowe to find the answers to Preston North End’s worrying Championship form.

The former Lilywhites player, who is currently out of work following his sacking as QPR boss earlier this season, believes the Scouser is a good enough manager to turn things around at Deepdale, despite growing fan unrest.

The 45-year-old finds himself under increasing pressure following North End’s New Year’s Day 2-0 defeat at Sunderland. The loss was Preston’s 11th since September 23, with just 14 points from a possible 54 collected since then. It also followed a pre-Christmas vote of confidence from Craig Hemmings and Peter Ridsdale that backed their manager to make a sucess of things at Deepdale.

Despite the support for the club’s top brass, patience continues to run very thin among the Preston fans. And while Ainsworth, who made more than 90 appearances for the Lilywhites over three spells, doesn’t believe recent tinkering with formations is doing Lowe any favours, he believes the former Plymouth boss can overcome his current difficulties.

Offering his opinion on Presten’s current situation, Ainsworth told Sky Sports after the final whiste at the Stadium of Light: ’It’s a club close to my heart and Ryan’s come in from Plymouth last year with a real momentum of what he wanted to do with his five at the back and he got great success with that at Plymouth, taking it to Preston.

‘I thought they did really well but I think this season he’s struggled with a formation change – and once you start doing that it’s almost saying you can’t settle on one.

‘(That’s unsettling for the players) and we said before the game, looking at the form recently, you don’t know what you’re going to get and that’s really difficult for a manager. Chopping and changing players, as well as a couple of injuries. But he’s a good manager, there’s no doubt Ryan will find the answers on this, but it’s a very tough league. I know first hand that it’s a very tough league to compete in and hopefully he’ll get some breathing space and maybe the opportunity to get some players in in January.’

Preston’s next match is against Chelsea at Stamfoird in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday, before they host Bristol City on Saturday, January 13.