Preston North End have been likened to Sheffield United by EFL pundit David Prutton.

Alex Neil’s side are currently sitting second in the Championship table, and headed into the international break on the back of a impressive 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town last time out.

That’s left them only trailing West Brom at this early stage of the season, with Neil’s side showing their promotion credentials as the Championship table begins to take shape ahead of Christmas.

This week, Prutton exclusively caught up with Football League World’s Chief Editor Sam Rourke, where he likened the Lilywhites to Sheffield United, who, of course, won promotion last season.

“The more I think about Preston, the more you get shades of what Sheffield United were,” Prutton stated.

“A group of players that have got a lot of Football League experience and maybe have bounced off bigger clubs in the past, but are a very good footballing side.”

Sheffield United were amongst a group of three clubs to begin pulling away last season, with Chris Wilder’s side competing with Norwich City and Leeds United for automatic promotion.

Eventually, the Blades got the better of Leeds, with the Whites failing to win any of their final four games of the regular season.

However, momentum really seemed to swing in the Blades’ favour when they won 1-0 at Elland Road in mid-March.

So far, Preston’s match-up with Leeds (currently third) saw them draw 1-1 at Deepdale, with Eddie Nketiah’s late goal rescuing the Yorkshire side.

Preston are scheduled meet table-topping West Bromwich Albion on December 2^nd.