Southampton v Preston North End
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 22nd December 2007, 3pm kick-off
Live coverage on Whites World from 2.30pm
It's a long way to Southampton - particularly on the last Saturday before Christmas - but North End's players, staff and supporters alike will care little for the distance after the jubilation of last Saturday's superb 3-2 win over Burnley (which you can now buy on DVD at the Club Shop or via MyPNE.com, priced at a bargain £4.99).
In many ways, it was a shame there wasn't another fixture immediately following the Turf Moor triumph to try and keep the momentum going, but there will be no lack of football from here on in, with this the first of five games in 15 days in league and cup competitions.
Paul McKenna will be touch and go after hobbling out of last Saturday's famous win, with the management team waiting until the last possible moment to decide upon the skipper's fitness. However, North End have plenty of options if he doesn't make it, with Darren Carter one possibility after a fine performance as substitute in McKenna's place over in East Lancashire. North End welcome back a familiar face to the fold, with Joe Anyinsah travelling with the squad on their flight to the south coast.
For the Saints, winger Nathan Dyer has been ruled out for three months following ankle surgery, but Wayne Thomas returns after a month on the side with an Achilles injury which was then compounded by a bout of flu on his return.
Last Time Out
Preston North End - Burnley 2 PNE 3
Lonergan, Jones (sub Mawene 75), Chivers, St Ledger, Hill, Sedgwick, McKenna (sub Carter 48), Davidson, Whaley, Gallagher (sub Hawley 86), Mellor
Southampton - Coventry 1 Southampton 1
Davis, Wright, Bennett, Davies, Skacel, Surman, Safri, Euell, Wright-Phillips (sub Saganowski 83 ), John, Hammill (Viafara 68)
The League Table
The Championship standings still indicate that Preston are in the bottom three - but their performance at Turf Moor was far from the standard expected from a side supposedly struggling at the wrong end of the table.
PNE attacked with vibrancy and quality, and it left many in no doubt that the only way is up. A win at St Mary's could lift the side from 23rd to 17th, though the Saints have their eyes on rising from 11th to 7th with a three point haul of their own. A point could be enough to get PNE out of the bottom three if a number of results go our way, but it'll need Leicester to lose by at least four goals in the Midlands derby against Wolves.
Ones To Watch
Neil Mellor
Given a new lease of life under Alan Irvine's stewardship, Mells has scored once and set up a further two strikes in the last three games, as well as 'winning the penalty that wasn't' with his dart into the box against Blackpool.
His powerful direct running style is coming to the fore at the moment, and his partnership with the creative Paul Gallagher could be one that bears plenty of fruit over Christmas. A lot could depend on whether Gallagher is allowed to stay at Deepdale at the end of his four-month loan deal, because the two strikers with Premier League experience are starting to look a cut above.
Stern John
His name sounds intimidating, and he's certainly a player who scares opposition defenders on a regular basis. He netted a hat trick in the Saints' last home game - a 4-0 win over Hull - and has netted nine times from his 13 starts and three sub appearances since signing from Sunderland in the summer.
The Trinidad and Tobago international has scored goals in great quantity at this level for the best part of the last decade, last netted against the Lilywhites when he scored Coventry's consolation in a 3-1 Deepdale defeat in December 2005.
Last Time We Met At St Mary's
Southampton 1 Preston 1
26th August 2006
Rasiak 43; Whaley 50
Attendance: 20,712
Head To Head
There have been surprisingly few meetings between the two sides down the years, with Preston edging a very tight head to head record.
In league meetings, Preston have won 13 games to Southampton's 11, with 13 draws. The Saints won the solitary cup encounter between the two sides - a 1-0 triumph in the 4th round of the 1978/79 FA Cup.
North End have drawn their two fixtures at the newly-built St Mary's Stadium after a generally mixed record at The Dell, their former home. However, we did win a famous encounter 5-4 in August 1963, and of course our last meeting with the Saints resulted in a 5-1 victory at Deepdale in October.
Referee - A M Penn
West Midlands official Andy Penn takes part in his fifth Championship game this season, having previously officiated in matches at Cardiff, Colchester, Hull and Ipswich as he racks up the miles in 2007/08.
His stance seems to be fairly lenient, with 36 yellows and two reds from 19 games, while it'll be his first North End encounter since our 2-1 win at Rotherham in April 2005.
Betting
Southampton 10/11, Draw 12/5, Preston 3/1. Prices are taken from the Club's official betting portal - pnebetting.co.uk.
Listen Live
Join us on Whites World from 2.30pm where Matt Morris and Rob Urbani will provide all the big match build-up before Matt Hardman steps into the press box to provide exclusive full match commentary. Whites World is available on a special trial price of 99p for seven days, meaning you can follow North End from anywhere on the globe. Don't forget to send your thoughts and opinions on the game to matchday@pne.com.
Kit
North End will line-up in an all yellow strip for this fixture.
