Ryan Lowe makes Chelsea admission ahead of bumper FA Cup tie for Preston North End

Ryan Lowe admits Preston North End's focus is on their next Championship fixture and not the FA Cup third round tie against Chelsea.

North End travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (January 6) - with their allocation of 6,000 tickets sold out. PNE suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland on New Year's Day, which saw them move out of the top-half of the table and down to 14th. Alex Pritchard and Nazariy Rusyn scored for the hosts in the first-half and the visitors failed to issue a response.

North End have now won just four games in their last 19 and over the busy Christmas period, they could only pick up three points from a possible 12 on offer. The drop off in form has seen Lowe go right back to the drawing board to find a way of winning - and as a result the Championship takes priority over their glamour tie against the Blues.

"You have got to keep trying and finding solutions," said Lowe. "That is all we keep doing. I have a fantastic set of coaching staff and players. I cannot criticise the players; they give us everything. "I've said many times, we lack quality, but we are going to have to find solutions of where we get it and how we get it.

"I've just said that, over the next two weeks, the work will all be for Bristol City. I know we've got the FA Cup, but it's the least of our worries now. The next worry is to try and pick some points up wherever we possibly can, yeah."

It remains to be seen what kind of team Lowe intends to name against Chelsea this weekend, but there could be several changes. PNE's boss mentioned the lack of quality, but North End aren't expected to do much early business in the January transfer window.

In December, PNE were linked with a move for Manchester United midfielder Dan Gore - however Borussia Dortmund are now said to have entered the race to sign him. Matthew Sorinola, who played for MK Dons and Swansea City, has become a free agent after leaving Union SG - and is a reported target. But, several of PNE's Championship rivals are also mentioned.

Vitesse winger Million Manhoef - also reportedly a North End target - has both Leicester City and Rangers chasing his signature, with a reported £2.5m transfer bid needed to lure him away from the Netherlands.