Daniel: We can End all doubts

DANIEL JOHNSON believes Preston North End have a burning desire to prove their doubters wrong.

The Lilywhites have surprised many people with their promising start in the Championship this season.

But not Jamaican forward Johnson (above), who, with eight goals already this term, believes the Lancashire club have timed their promotion push to perfection.

“It’s always been the case that no one really speaks about Preston as challengers,” admitted Johnson, ahead of today’s home clash with Reading.

“We all hear and see things, we’re sitting up there in the league and no one really speaks about us, they only speak about Leeds or West Brom.

“But we don’t really focus on that, we just focus on what we’ve got to do.

“We have a good balance in our team and a really good squad. Everyone understands their role and everyone else’s roles.

“I think this squad’s come a long way. We’ve managed to keep the core of our squad. A few guys have left, but not too many.

“I think that’s the main success to our season so far. We’ve been here before and we know what it takes.

“As the years tick away, we learn a bit more and have a bit more experience of it. That will benefit us because it’s a long season.”

Preston have toyed with the play-offs before, but Johnson, in his sixth season at Deepdale, is confident the club are better-equipped to push for a memorable top-flight rise.

The Lilywhites have never played in the Premier League before and, with one of the lowest budgets in the league, promotion this season would be nothing short of a fairytale.

“We’ve got a good chemistry,” added Johnson. “Credit to the gaffer [Alex Neil] because he’s brought in some really good players. I’m sure he’ll continue to keep us progressing.

“We’re not looking at what’s going to happen in the next couple of months.

“You don’t win anything at this stage of the season, we’re only a quarter of the way there. Ideally, we’d like to stay in and around it [the promotion mix] for the majority of the season.”

And Johnson hopes he can keep his impressive form going to help Preston be in the play-off mix, come the end of the campaign.

“I’m quite happy with it, but, as team, it’s been a brilliant start,” added Johnson, whose side are unbeaten in their last four ahead of the visit of the Royals this weekend.

“Any contribution I can make, whether it’s keeping the back door shut or finishing at the other end, is a valuable contribution.

“But it’s very important to have a great mix of players who score goals. If that keeps happening, then we can be up there.”