Declan Rudd has said that Preston are capable of competing with the Championship's big guns during the second half of the season.

Alex Neil's side currently sit in sixth place in the league and are firmly on track to challenge for a play-off spot come the end of the campaign.

Preston were previously rubbing shoulders with Leeds United and West Brom for a spot in the top two but after a rough patch they found themselves dropping down the league.

But speaking ahead of the clash with Reading, Rudd insisted that the team are fully capable of pushing for the top two.

Quoted by the Lancashire Evening Post, Rudd said: “Against the top teams in the league we have gone toe-to-toe.

“We have beaten Fulham, drawn twice with Leeds when they have scored late equalisers.

“We deserved a point against West Brom. People probably don’t give us the credit we deserve. We go toe-to-toe with the so-called bigger teams and people forget about Preston.”

Speaking of the recent upturn in form, Rudd said: “We were always going to pull it around, all teams go through bad spells.

“It shows the character and mentality we have in the team and squad.

“We have done well to dust ourselves down from those defeats and get ourselves going again.

“Hopefully this can carry on over the rest of the Christmas period and into the New Year, and we can get ourselves close to the top two.

“It is very tight all the way down to 12th or so. We need to build on this run, try and breakaway from the pack.”

The verdict

Preston face a pivotal few weeks as they look to push on in their promotion chase.

Despite falling away from the Championship's top two, Alex Neil's side are still well placed to challenge for the top six.

If they can continue getting results against the big boys, they should be there or thereabouts come May.