Preston defender Sean St Ledger believes the FA Cup fourth-round trip to Derby can help inspire an upturn in fortunes at Deepdale.North End are struggling badly in the Coca-Cola Championship and lie third bottom after losing 15 of their 28 games so far this term.

A trip to Pride Park to face Paul Jewell's Barclays Premier League strugglers is followed by a daunting home clash against West Brom on Tuesday before a relegation six-pointer away to Norwich next weekend.

St Ledger said: "The Derby game is the start of a massive week for us.

"They're struggling badly in the Premier League but they've signed several new players recently and will be tough opponents.

"However, if we can get a positive result at Derby then we can take that into the league games against West Brom and Norwich, which are both massive games."

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