Leicester City challenge will teach us everything we need to know about Preston North End: Opinion | OneFootball

Highlights

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Preston North End face Leicester City later this week in the Sky Bet Championship in what looks like a really good test of their early promotion credentials.

The Deepdale club has had a strong campaign so far, with the opening stages seeing them establish themselves as one of the form sides in the second tier, alongside the likes of Ipswich Town and the aforementioned Foxes.

However, a heavy loss against West Brom last time out brought their unbeaten start to the season to a halt in pretty dramatic style, and now eyes will be on them to see how they bounce back, against the side that many have down as favourites for the crown.

Clearly, Leicester City have the resources and the squad to get the job done this year in terms of winning the Championship and returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

They have shown they have the appetite to compete at this level and get themselves back to the top tier, too, with the fantastic start that they have made.

Right now, they are the team to beat and they will be hugely motivated going into this clash with Ryan Lowe's team to make a big statement, showing why they are the ones to catch.

PNE, then, must rise to this challenge and, if they are serious about making a long-awaited return to the top flight of English football, it is in games like this where they must get a positive result.

It's not a must-win game, of course, as there's still so much football to be played but if they are blown away by Leicester then naturally a few doubts will creep in over their promotion-winning credentials.

Doubts, of course, that can easily be addressed with a response further down the line but this is nevertheless the best litmus test so far of where Preston are this year, and their fans will be keen to see where they stack up.

Preston's promotion ambitions

PNE have been building quietly under Ryan Lowe and the early signs are that they could well be in the mix for promotion until the end of the season.

Lowe has overseen promotion-winning campaigns elsewhere and so knows exactly what to do in that regard, but of course it is early days and there is still a long way to go in the campaign before we can draw firm conclusions.

Any kind of good result for the side this week, though, will certainly turn a few heads in a positive manner.

Leicester City's scintillating Sky Bet Championship form

It has been a brilliant start for the Foxes, meanwhile, and you only have to take a look at the results they have had so far this year to see why they are so fancied to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The King Power stadium-based side have been near perfect at the start of this campaign, with eight wins from their first nine matches and just the one loss, with them sitting top of the league.