Preston North End boss makes shock relegation claim as survival fight intensifies with Portsmouth, Leicester City & Co
Preston North End sit nine points above Pompey, with 10 games remaining in the campaign.
Paul Heckingbottom has warned his Preston North End side are far from safety as they brace for a late-season survival fight with Pompey, Leicester City and more.
The Lilywhites are currently in free fall as their season spirals following a terrible run of form.
Despite heading into 2026 occupying a play-off spot, North End have won just three times since the turn of the year, which includes a 1-0 win over John Mousinho’s men in February.
In fact their triumph against the Blues represents their only win in any of their previous 12 matches, with that run seeing them plummet to 17th in the standings.
Preston now sit just 10 points above the relegation zone, with eight games remaining in their season and face the likes of West Brom, Charlton Athletic and Leicester City in the run in.
It follows the same trend seen 12 months ago, which saw Heckingbottom’s men win just one of their final 15 matches as they secured their survival on the final day.
Although John Mousinho last week insisted he saw the relegation battle as a five-horse race, Heckingbottom is adamant his side are far from danger, with less than two months in the campaign to go.
But the head coach is confident he has enough in his squad to turn their fortunes around as the run-in accelerates.
Boss of Pompey’s rivals makes worrying relegation claim
‘100%,’ Heckingbottom replied when asked by our sister paper, the Lancashire Post, if his side were under threat.
‘I don't know if you remember me before the Cup quarter-final last year... that was my big gripe about the whole place. I need the fans to turn out Friday; I’ve already told the players. Everyone last year, I felt, because we took over at the bottom and then rose up the league to mid-table... I'd already seen the nature of the injuries and what was coming back after international break.
‘And everyone was excited about the Cup quarter-final and that can happen. Hopefully, we get the boys who were injured back, who can help us and we don't have to flip the other way.
‘Again, a lot of that stuff at the end of last season was out of our control. We had some stinking referee decisions there. So, you've always got to fight and scrap and no, you're never, ever safe, never.
’It will turn. It's not nice and, reassuring is the wrong word, but when it's clear to see, like I'm looking there today, we all saw what we got wrong.
‘We made a mistake for the first goal; moment of quality from them. You could save the second but I'm not happy with the award of the free kick and us not taking our chances.
‘That's it, it's not like it's a puzzle to figure out why we've been beat.’