Preston North End are the current Championship top-scorers with 31 goals from their first 16 games, and this strong offensive stat has seen the Lilywhites in the top-two.

Preston travel to Derby County on Saturday and to a ground where the Lilywhites haven't won since 2002.

Alex Neil has revealed that a big reason behind North End's free-scoring form is partly down to the development of their play further back on the pitch.

Goals have been generously shared around the Preston squad so far this term with 12 players finding the back of the net for the Lilywhites so far.

Joe Rafferty and Darnell Fisher have mainly filled the full-back roles so far this term and Alex Neil told the Lancashire Evening Post that their positioning and taken better care of the ball in midfield has been key to North End's early season success.

Speaking on Wednesday, Neil said: "We have looked to get the full-backs higher, made them more aggressive, he key to that then being effective is having good retention of the ball.

"If your full-backs are advanced and you lose the ball, you are going to get countered down the sides," the 38-year-old added.

Speaking on North End's improved style of play, Neil said: "Our retention of the ball in the middle of the pitch has improved significantly, that allows us to be more aggressive in that sense, I tried to do it at the start of last season and you saw how that went."

The trip to Pride Park is the first of 10 games North End will play in just over a month.

Neil will be able to welcome back Ben Pearson from suspension who served his ban when North End ended Huddersfield's unbeaten run before the international break.

The Verdict

Preston fans will be thrilled with their team's goal-scoring efforts which has quite rightly seen their side into the top-two of the division.

The way North End have been performing it almost seems certain that they will improve on their 14th placed finish last season and are now firm contenders for a top-six position.

With top-scorer, Daniel Johnson, currently out injured it will be reassuring to North End fans that their team are capable of scoring goals all over the pitch.