Preston In Need Of Three Points

Preston goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann has admitted that North End will be arriving in Essex this Saturday in need of all three points following a run of just one win in twelve that sees the U's closing in on their visitors.

Joe Dunne's men are now just six points behind the Lancashire side, and so both sides will view three points this weekend as crucial in the ongoing push for mid-table comfort.

North End lost 2-1 at Shrewsbury last weekend as they threw away a one-goal lead at the break, with an eventual stoppage time penalty sealing all three points for the Shrews.

In reflection, Stuckmann says North End looked set for a comfortable win and need to extract the positives.

He told the official website: 'If you'd have asked me at half-time what the score would be then I'd have said we'd go on to win by four or five.

'But we need to get our heads clear and concentrate on Colchester to make sure we get three points there.

'We need a win to get back going and then we can take it from there.'

The two sides met on a warm opening day at Deepdale when the U's were happy to take a 0-0 draw back to Essex with them and, looking back, Stuckmann believes that they were unfortunate not to pick up all three points.

'We dominated on the opening day and had some good chances,' he continued. 'But we lost at Colchester last year and played badly.

'We have to keep in mind that we played well against them in August, and we know we can beat them.

'We have to get the positives out of the shrewsbury game and take them with us.'


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