THEIR circumstances may be similar, but there is a world of difference between the two men on the touchline tonight.

Currently assisting manager Ian Baraclough as Scunthorpe United's first-team coach, Steve Parkin also knows the man in the opposition dugout well.

A coach alongside Phil Brown during his Hull City tenure, he has a good idea what to expect when Preston roll up at Glanford Park tonight.

The North End boss will most likely have approached the game in a different way to his Iron counterpart, but their ultimate aim is very much the same.

"Phil's very demanding as a boss, in a positive sense," said Parkin, who spent three years with the Tigers.

"He's very committed and likes his teams to be committed.

"I'm sure there will be no shortage of that from them tonight.

"Ian's a little bit more open to getting his staff involved with working with the team.

"Phil very much liked to have his time on a Thursday and Friday and do what he wanted to do.

"He involved you in the aspects behind the scenes and with the team up to the end of the week, but certainly after that, he liked to take the team himself.

"I know Phil well and he will be disappointed not to have a few victories on the board at Preston.

"That will be upsetting him because he's very passionate about his football.

"But I don't know what his responsibilities are at the club, in terms of whether it's a rebuilding project.

"If he didn't feel it was the right job, he wouldn't have taken it.

"We spoke on the phone before he went there and said it was a difficult job with the position they were in.

"We're very much in touch, but we haven't spoken for two or three days in the build-up to this.

"We'll have a drink afterwards, win, lose or draw, but there's been no contact in the build-up to the game."

Everyone at Glanford Park is well aware of the magnitude of tonight's clash.

Win and fourth-bottom Crystal Palace are once more within touching distance, just a point above United.

Defeat doesn't even bear thinking about for Parkin.

"If you win the game and get the kind of performance you want, it can be a catalyst to kick on," said the former Rochdale boss, who admits he is keen on one day returning to a managerial role.

"The division is so inconsistent in terms of results.

"The teams at the bottom seem to get a couple of good results and then get two or three bad ones.

"It can change very quickly.

"I think you've got to be looking at mid-40s to stay up, 48 points and you might have a chance.

"It is a lot to ask for us in the realms of the season, but it's a lot to ask of all the other teams who are down there.

"Even with the strong squads some of them have got, no-one really seems able to put a run together which gets them away from trouble.

"We've got to hang on to that and make sure we keep on their shirttails.

"A three-point gap is staying in touch, so if we draw tonight, we're still in touch with Crystal Palace.

"If we win tonight, even better.

"I think we're all aware it's a game we don't want to lose because a four-point gap is always difficult to close."

This is a familiar scenario for Parkin, having battled relegation while in charge of both Rochdale and Barnsley.

He knows battles have to be won in the mind in addition to on the pitch.

"Sometimes there have been games, in my honest opinion, where there has been a little bit of confidence lacking," he said.

"And yet, in other games I see there is lots of desire and effort.

"It's about channelling that into every game we play now.

"The team has got to be incredibly motivated in every game.

"We've got to make it as difficult as we can for our opponents.

"It's just about getting a winning mentality and making sure we put in a really good performance tonight so we can build on that.

"There is still a really good spirit amongst the lads.

"The problem is, we're in a really, really tough division.

"We've probably got one of the smallest squads, the smallest ground, smallest attendances and Ian's probably working on the smallest budget.

"There's no hiding away from that fact. It is the hardest job in the division.

"When you meticulously go through the teams, they've got big squads, strong squads.

"Look at Leicester on Saturday and the amount of players they had who are top quality and have played in the Premier League.

"I'm not saying it because I'm here, I'm saying it as an honest person, if Scunthorpe United can stay in the division this year, it's probably going to be one of the club's biggest ever achievements."