Preston North End and Paul Heckingbottom urged to take action over "stale" situation in January | OneFootball

The Lilywhites have struggled this season, and they will be looking forward to the upcoming transfer window to bring in more talent.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Preston North End have not had the season that they perhaps expected, and they have continued to struggle to climb the Championship table under the guidance of Paul Heckingbottom.

The Lilywhites' summer transfer window was disrupted by the departure of Ryan Lowe after the first match of the campaign, one that they lost 2-0 to Sheffield United at Deepdale, and the former Blades boss who is now in charge of the Lancashire club has faced difficulties finding any consistency.

It's been an extremely frustrating opening four months for the 47-year-old, and he needs new reinforcements to help in his side's fight against relegation to League One - a division that North End have not been in since 2015.

Preston have to strengthen in January, otherwise those around them may start to leave them behind, and a failure to do so could have huge consequences.

Preston urged to make key signings in January transfer window

If improvements are to happen, then it seems unlikely that this current crop of players will be able to provide that, and investment is needed.

Currently 18th in the league, Heckingbottom's side have won only three games all season, and they are slowly losing touch with those in mid-table, making January even more important.

However, for Football League World's Preston Fan Pundit, Darren Watson, there is a fear that no action is taken to bring in new signings.

"My one big fear that I've got heading into the January transfer window is that we don’t bring in any players at all, and we stick with the current squad that we've got," he started.

"I know some Preston fans are thinking that maybe we should stick with the current squad. Obviously, they're a good bunch of players, but they’re not performing. Personally, I just think that the club needs to look in a different direction at this time.

"It's becoming a bit stale, and I think that I was really supportive in defending the players we've got at the moment, but after the last couple of performances in the past three or four games, I just don't think it's good enough at all."

Darren continued: "I just think defending is quite honestly a bit shocking at times and going forward, no one wants to seem to even take a shot on goal or even get into the box when the players are out on the wings. It's just a bit disappointing.

"It's really frustrating watching it in the stands as well, and I'm sure there are a lot of Preston fans that feel the same way that I do. So the one big fear is, is that we won't actually bring anybody in, and we'll leave it until the last minute, and we can't bring anybody in on loan or even spend any money. That's just the one big fear of not having anybody through the door in January."

Heckingbottom needs a consistent goalscorer

One of the main issues that Preston currently have is a lack of goals coming consistently from those up front. Emil Riis and Sam Greenwood both have four goals each, with Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Milutin Osmajic finding the back of the net only twice.

Failing to see games out has been a huge issue, dropping points to Derby County and Norwich City after taking the lead, while they also drew with Plymouth Argyle after being 3-0 up at Home Park at the end of October.

Wins in all three of those games would see North End 13th in the table, nine points clear of the relegation zone. This frustration will be at the forefront of Heckingbottom's mind, and although they scored three times against the Pilgrims in their draw in Devon, they need a player who will get them 15 goals this season to keep them away from danger.

Defensively, there are issues as well, but outscoring teams is incredibly important, and they have to get firing every week to ensure that they do not get caught by those in the relegation zone.