Jordan Thompson has urged Preston North End supporters to keep faith with the squad, insisting the club will find their feet under Graham Alexander even as they sit bottom of the Championship with just four points from ten matches.

The Northern Ireland midfielder, who has captained the side in each of their last four fixtures, spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire in the wake of a difficult week that brought a 1-0 defeat at home to Millwall on the Saturday and a 4-0 drubbing away at Birmingham on the Tuesday. It is, by any measure, a grim return: Preston's worst start to a league season in more than a century.

Thompson points the finger inward

Thompson was not one to dress Tuesday's result up. "It was a really frustrating result for us," he said. "I don't think we got the press right at times. There were a few things that went wrong. We talked about the game between ourselves, we're all disappointed, it wasn't good enough."

That kind of blunt self-assessment is at least a starting point. Press-release language about "positives to take" was conspicuously absent. The 29-year-old accepted collective responsibility and pointed the squad's attention towards Saturday's trip to Wrexham (15:00 BST) as the immediate opportunity to respond.

"In football you go through these periods through the season," he said. "Ours has come at the start of the season which is frustrating, but football changes very quickly. We have another game, we're looking forward to it."

A new shape, a new style, and not enough time yet

Thompson's explanation for the rocky opening run centres largely on the transition Alexander is driving. The manager, who took charge with Preston already in the bottom reaches of the table, is trying to install a more aggressive, front-foot approach. Thompson suggested the players are still calibrating that system.

"The gaffer has only been in a short period, he's still trying to get his ideas across," he said. "He wants us to be aggressive and on the front foot, maybe on Tuesday we got that wrong at times. There's been change, the training and the shape we're playing. There's things we need to improve on and that will definitely happen over a period of time."

That is a reasonable account of how transitions work. A new manager's system rarely clicks inside a fortnight. The problem for Preston is that the Championship table does not wait for a squad to bed in. Four points from ten games leaves them staring at League One if results do not improve sharply.

The ask for supporters

Thompson was direct in his appeal to the Deepdale faithful, acknowledging their patience has been tested while asking them not to disengage at the worst possible moment.

"Ultimately we have to give them something to cheer about so it's down to us to change it, but the fans being with us can only help going forward," he said.

It is a fair ask, and one that recognises what a town's relationship with its football club actually requires: not unconditional cheerleading, but enough collective will to get through a bad patch. Whether Preston's current squad has the quality to cash in on that goodwill remains the open question. Thompson was adamant it does.

"There's a lot of quality in our group," he said. "We have to take responsibility as players and individuals and really push forward."

What Wrexham represents

Saturday's fixture away at Wrexham is not, on paper, a gimme. But for a side that has lost consecutive games and conceded five goals across them, any match represents a chance to stop the bleeding. Thompson's message was simple: the problems are identifiable, the belief is intact, and the correction will come.

Whether Alexander's Preston can translate that belief into points before the gap to safety becomes truly daunting is the question that will define their season.

Frequently asked

Why are Preston bottom of the Championship?
Preston have taken just four points from their first ten Championship games, a run that includes a 1-0 home defeat to Millwall and a 4-0 loss at Birmingham. The club is in the process of adapting to new manager Graham Alexander's system, and players have acknowledged results have not been good enough.
Who is Jordan Thompson at Preston North End?
Jordan Thompson is a 29-year-old Northern Ireland international midfielder who plays for Preston North End in the Championship. He has captained the side in each of their last four matches.
When is Preston's next Championship game?
Preston travel to Wrexham on Saturday with a 15:00 BST kick-off, looking to end a run of back-to-back defeats in the Championship.