Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom says the Deepdale faithful have a huge role to play on Saturday afternoon.

It’s round five FA Cup action as the Lilywhites host Lancashire rivals Burnley in a 12:15 kick-off. North End will aim to book their place in the quarter-finals of the famous competition, for the first time in almost 60 years.

Standing in their way is a Clarets side gunning for automatic promotion back to the Premier League. PNE have drawn 0-0 against Scott Parker’s side twice this season though – and were aggrieved by Emil Riis’ wrongly ruled out goal at Turf Moor.

Preston’s boss has already made his appetite for the FA Cup clear but is well aware of the challenge in store. After seeing off Charlton Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers he wanted another home tie and hopes his players will feel the backing from the stands.

“One hundred percent, yeah,” said Heckingbottom. “I’m hoping this is our best atmosphere of the season. I’m expecting that and wanting it to be that. I want the fans to get as excited about the FA Cup as I do because who knows what’s next, you know? We need their help to get past one of the top teams in our league. That’s what the FA Cup is for me… it’s something else and you could potentially get something that’s your only chance in this season.

“You don’t know where you’re going to end up so we want the fans to be a part of that, we need them to be a part of it to give us the best chance of progressing. I think you’ve seen in the League Cup and in this cup, a game’s a game. You want to try and win it and you have to become skilled and used to it as staff and as players, if you want to be a successful team. So we’ve guaranteed ourselves 50-odd games this season already.

“We want it to be more and we want that to be regular each season, so we want to be used to how you manage players through those times. Because your career’s short; how many FA Cup runs do you potentially have? We want it to be as far and as good as we can possibly make it and the fact that the last time we were in a quarter final was in the 1960s, let’s be part of a new FA Cup run with this group of players and this set of fans. So yeah, they’re important games definitely.”It’s only a fortnight since PNE locked horns with Burnley on home soil. The visitors shaded it in terms of goal scoring opportunities that day but were well limited in what was a cagey affair. Heckingbottom has not learned too much about the Clarets since then though mid-season recruit Marcus Edwards did make his first start last time out.

“Yeah, he’s been playing but Scott’s changed his teams in the FA Cup so he may make one or two changes again,” said Heckingbottom. “Apart from the Southampton game, where tactically he was slightly different, their approach has been the same and I can’t see him changing too much to face us. So yeah, all the time it’s about us and how we prepare for the game.

“But then it might be how we deal against different setups and systems. But when we get to this point now, we as a group and as a team of players know they might rock up with a totally different shape. As long as we recognise that early enough and get that message across, we know how to deal with that. It’s more our approach to the game I am bothered about.”

He added: “It’s set up perfectly for another tough game but the moment we’re not at our best, we make the game easier for them. We need to be at our best and improve slightly in certain areas to progress.”