Hume views survival as bottom line for Preston

(PA)

The Preston striker Iain Hume would be happy if he did not find the back of the net again this season – as long as the club escape relegation.

Phil Brown's side sit 23rd in the Championship and entertain rock-bottom Sheffield United at Deepdale on the same day the two sides directly above them, Scunthorpe United and Crystal Palace, also meet.

Hume lamented the lack of goals for Preston in recent weeks, but claimed he would sacrifice personal glory for the chance to keep them afloat.

"We haven't scored as many as we would have liked but we have started over the past two or three weeks to get the results without scoring four or five goals a game," he told the club's website yesterday. "I don't care if I don't score again this season if we win every game, it's a team game."

The Canadian forward also called on the Preston fans to turn up the noise ahead of the visit of Micky Adams' struggling Sheffield United. "If they are there in their thousands and we can get 14 or 15,000 or even more, it will give the lads that extra buzz because they are part of the squad," Hume said. "The fans are a massive part of how much the players believe when they go into a game and it will give the lads that extra little boost – it gives us that extra man."

If Preston pick up all three points, it would leave Adams' Blades at least eight points adrift from safety with only four games remaining.

The other two teams deep in the relegation dogfight meet at Selhurst Park as Palace host Scunthorpe, whose new manager, Alan Knill, will be going for the win that would close the gap on their opponents to just three points. "We have to go down there and try to get three points," he said. "I don't know any other way than to go out, be positive and try to win the game."

Dave Jones' Cardiff will be looking to keep a hold of the second automatic promotion place when they host Portsmouth. Jones said that his players' hard work over the season would be one of the main factors in any success. "We go into the game having won our last three, which has added to the confidence, focus and mood that was already in the camp," he said. "The one thing that hasn't changed here this season is that the lads have all kept on working really hard, which has over the long term put us in the position that we're in right now."