Preston North End man calls team 'embarrassing' and 'boring' ahead of Sunderland clash

North End, however, have experienced a poor start to the Championship season and currently sit in 15th position with 12 points from their opening 10 games.

Ryan Lowe’s side are struggling to score goals and have so far only netted three times, but have one of the best defensive records in the division, having only conceded on four occasions.

The Black Cats are flying high in fifth position after drawing 2-2 with Watford, a Premier League side last season, at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Preston, however, lost 2-0 at home to Sheffield United.

After the game, Preston skilled Alan Browne provided a strong assessment of his club’s season so far.

"It was the same old story and it's probably getting boring now," said Browne. "A lack of goals is just letting us down time and time again and it's obvious to see that. We're not getting battered by anyone; Cardiff away is probably our worst performance but other than that we've dominated most games. We just cannot score and we need to find a solution quickly because - although we're not in a really bad position - we are slowly dropping down the league.

"It's getting embarrassing now, for the quality we have right throughout our team and the size of our team as well. Our clean sheets have kept us in a half-decent position. The attacking side of the team is letting the back five down; they have been fantastic. There were a couple of sloppy goals today and the one against Birmingham was a mistake, but nobody has really carved us open other than that. To be letting the back five down time and time again, they must be getting fed up of us. I cannot put my finger on it.

"It's (lack of confidence) probably creeping in slowly. There hasn't been a lack of it for large periods of the season. I thought we might have turned things around at Coventry, with Emil (Riis) getting his goal. I thought we might kick on from there, but it wasn't to be and it's probably a poor watch from the fans' perspective and the coaching staff as well. I do believe that we could be right up there now.

"It's really tough to dominate games in this league because there is not an awful lot between teams, but in certain games our performances have warranted wins and when you don't get those, it knocks you back after working that hard. We remain three points off the play-offs I think and top two was our ambition - some might not think it was realistic but those are the levels we set ourselves.

"That is slowly creeping away - 11 points already I think. This league is a strange one, where anything can happen, but to have only scored three goals, but be three points off the play-offs, it is one positive we can take from it."