The full-time whistle at Ashton Gate on Sunday will signal the end of Alan Irvine's first season at Preston North End but the Manager's work does not end there.

The Gaffer now has the task of preparing for next season on-and-off the pitch. Irvine spoke to Whites World ahead of the final Championship fixture against Bristol City about his plans for the summer and how he is looking for a strong performance from his team to draw the curtain on the 2007/08 campaign.

The season may be coming to an end but the hard work is just starting for yourself.
Without a doubt it is going to be a busy summer. The sooner I can sort out pre-season training, the sooner I can get the players that I would like to get in then the sooner I can have a little bit of a break. Until those things are done I won't be able to rest easily and I won't be able to get much of a holiday if it takes a long time to sort these things out.

I imagine you have not lost any of the focus for this weekend's match and you will want to finish the season on a high.
We've prepared in exactly the same way that we would normally prepare. We're still going to fly down to the game, we're still going to do all of our video work, we've trained properly all of the week and we'll arrive at the ground at the normal time. Everything will be exactly the same as if this was a game where we would desperately need the points.

The game has been labelled as a dead rubber but Bristol City need the points for home advantage in the second leg of the Play-Offs.
Obviously they want to get home advantage so they will be looking at that as a big thing. They will want to make sure that they finish in the right position as far as they are concerned. As far as we are concerned, we want to give ourselves a good feeling going into the close season and we want to give a very good account of ourselves and that we are not going there just to play in a testimonial game.

The way we came back against Ipswich last weekend indicates that we are not prepared to roll over.
We are not going to do that. The players are judged every time they cross the white line and every time they pull on a shirt for Preston North End, people are going to make judgements on their performances. That includes me, the supporters, the coaches and the players themselves so they know that they have to do everything right in order to prepare for this game.

What's the latest injury news?
Good news really. Kevin Nicholls is back training again although this game is probably going to come too early for him. Sean St Ledger has trained this week so he's in contention and aside from that we have no other injury problems.

Some of the lads will have a chance to have a break after the match but the injured players will still have to come in.
You have to do things professionally whether it's in January or in June and obviously if you are a professional footballer and you are injured, you have a rehabilitation schedule to follow. For Liam Chilvers and Wayne Henderson it is going to be a busy summer and they will have to do everything they can to give themselves the best chance of being fit and available as soon as possible.

Are you looking forward to 1^st July for the start of the new season?
I seem to have a fairly full diary already and I'm really looking forward to that time because it gives me a great chance to work with the players in a way that I've not been able to so far.