DES Buckingham says the early managerial change at this afternoon’s opponent’s Preston North End demonstrates the chaotic nature of modern-day football.

Ryan Lowe left North End by mutual consent after just one game this season, with Paul Heckingbottom taking over as boss on August 20.

He’s overseen a 1-0 win at home to Luton Town in Sky Bet Championship, and the midweek 5-0 hammering of League Two side Harrogate Town in the Carabao Cup second round.

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Buckingham was appointed U’s head coach in November, and of the 72 bosses across the Football League, Buckingham is the 36th longest serving, putting him in the top half of managers for longevity.

He said: “I think there have been just under 40 changes of head coach since I was appointed in mid-November last year, so it shows the turbulent nature of these roles.

“They’ve had a change already, but brought in a very good coach, who already in the two games he’s been in, has had an instant impact in terms of performance and the results they’ve picked up.

“Teams always get the bounce, but it’s not just the bounce, it’s about having a look at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, and looking at their previous coach, and what they did, and some consistency there.

“We also make sure we play our way. We’ve got a way of doing things. We’ll always pay respect to the opposition, but a lot of our time and attention will focus on what we want to do.”

United began the league campaign with a 2-0 win at home to Norwich City, with one-goal defeats at Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers following, while exiting the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Buckingham said: “We’re looking forward to getting back home. We’ve had three away games, and we know the importance of our home games in this league.

“If we can play the way we have over the last few games, and back that with the wonderful atmosphere and togetherness of the fans, our home games are going to be so important.

“We feel we should have more points than we have, with the three points at the start of the season very good against Norwich.

“The two games after that in the league, we felt we did enough to come away with at least a draw in each of those games.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve shown we can compete, but we’re disappointed we’ve not come away with those points.

“If there was to be a jump in levels, I’m really pleased with how the players have adapted to meet those demands and levels, to give us the performances.”