Preston reached their 54 point target in midweek but won't be able to relax against a Barnsley side that are fighting to avoid relegation when they meet at Deepdale tomorrow.
Barnsley may have been knocked out in the FA Cup semi final last weekend to Cardiff but bounced back in terrific fashion to beat Championship title contenders Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road.
At a press conference today Preston North End Manager Alan Irvine said: "They went to Watford on the back of a really big disappointment for them and they showed great character, they'll be feeling much better about themselves."
North End Midfielder Darren Carter is expecting a challenge but believes Barnsley fatigue may give Preston an advantage: "They'll come here confident but if they've played Sunday and Wednesday we want to make sure we're alot brighter and fresher because we've had a week off. We'll be flying out the blocks and it's game we want to win and have to win"
Odejayi
The player Preston defenders should be watching for is Kayode Odejayi who scored a fantastic winning goal against Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter final.
He missed a great chance to draw Barnsley level at Wembley last weekend but didn't dwell on it and was back in goalscoring form against Watford netting two goals to lift the Yorkshire side out of the relegation places.
Talking about the Nigerian striker Preston manager Irvine said: "He plays right on the shoulder of the last defender, he looks to run in behind all the time, he's very quick and he's very strong. He's a handful for any defenders."
Irvine will be able to pick from a near full strength squad after Neil Mellor, Billy Jones and Youl Mawene were all confirmed fit to play tomorrow.
Mathematically Safe
Preston will want to make sure they don't let their level of performance drop after reaching their 54 points target Irvine set when he took over as manager in November as they cold still go down. However if they win against Barnsley tomorrow and Leicester lose to already relegated Colchester they will be mathematically safe and able to enjoy their remaining three games.
Irvine said: "I was just aware that if we could beat Barnsley then it going to make life extremely tough for them. So the target was to go out and win this particular game. But it would be great if we were mathematically safe after this game."
However Irvine will not be keeping his players informed of the scores of teams also trying to avoid relegation. He said: "We'll do our job and just concentrate on getting that done.
"we need to get the points that we need and then it's up to everyone else to try and do the same for their clubs"
He also will not risk upsetting the balance of his team by experimenting with new ideas for next season. Irvine said "We owe everybody a duty of putting out the strongest team that we can and trying to win our remaining games."
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