Roy Keane says he expects Preston to be in contention for promotion come the end of the season.

North End are the visitors to Portman Road on Saturday and arrive in confident mood after two wins and two draws from their opening four Championship games.

They lie in fifth place in the table and the Town boss is expecting a testing 90 minutes at the weekend.

"Alan Irvine has done a fantastic job at Preston and I'm sure they are in for a successful season," the Town boss told the Club website.

"I have had dealings with Alan before with Ross Wallace going there from when I was at Sunderland and he's got them very well organised.

"They look very solid and well prepared and have had a good start to the season. They have a good manager, good staff, good players and I'm sure they will be in the mix at the end.

"It's going to be a hard game for us on Saturday but one that I'm looking forward to."

There are still tickets available for Saturday's game, kick-off 3pm. Full details on the ticket page of the Club website.