Preston North End versus Coventry City
Saturday 9th February, 2008
Coca-Cola Championship
Deepdale, 3pm kick-off
North End will be looking to continue their fantastic start to 2008 on their home patch after three successive victories at Deepdale since the turn of the year.
Iain Dowie's Sky Blues provide the opposition on Saturday as the Lilywhites aim to return to winning ways following the last-minute heartbreak suffered away at Norwich City last weekend.
Over the course of the last seven days, Alan Irvine has added Polish International stopper Grzegorz Szamotulski to his ranks, as he looks to reinforce the goalkeeping area amid reports that Wayne Henderson could be ruled out for the remainder of the season with his troublesome back injury.
Chris Brown, Youl Mawene and Chris Sedgwick all return from suspension whilst Callum Davidson looks set to miss out with a thigh injury picked up in the defeat at Carrow Road last weekend.
Coventry travel to Lancashire on the back of a 4-0 hammering of Barnsley. Marcus Hall, sidelined since November with Achilles trouble, could return, with Iain Dowie having the option of selecting Chris Birchall and Wayne Andrews who are also back after injury. Goalkeeper Andy Marshall has resumed full training but Konstantopoulos is expected to continue between the sticks.
In the build-up to Saturday's clash, North End manager Alan Irvine admitted he is excited at the prospect of facing the Sky Blues but remained cautious about the threat they possess. He said: "We now look forward to the next game, and we look at the Coventry game as a team that aren't very far away from us, and a team that have just had a very, very good result."
The League Table
It's quite an important game at the bottom of the table for a couple of reasons. Should Preston snatch the important three points, then they could realistically move out of the bottom three, although that would depend on Sheffield Wednesday falling to defeat or only taking a point away at Bristol City.
A win for the Lilywhites would also close the gap on teams around them, including Coventry with the difference between the clubs currently standing at five points. A victory for the Sky Blues would see them move up to the lower-mid table, taking them to 38 points.
Ones To Watch
Chris Brown
After suffering the frustration of missing out against his former club last week, the January acquisition is set to return to Preston's starting XI following his one match suspension.
Browny has been nothing short of a success so far, offering a different threat in the final third whilst forging what is showing signs of being a very handy partnership with Karl Hawley.
Whilst many would view him as a traditional 'target man' due to his height and build, the 23-year-old also has a deceptive turn of pace and an ability to dribble the ball towards goal.
The £400,000 signing is still to register his first goal at Deepdale and Saturday could well be the occasion he does it.
Michael Mifsud
The small, nippy Maltese forward has been on fire this season, bagging a total of 16 goals for the Sky Blues in all competitions, including nine in the Championship. He is somewhat of an idol in his home country, often being regarded as the best footballer that the small island has produced.
People started to take note of what Mifsud could do after he bagged a brace in Coventry's Carling Cup victory at Old Trafford earlier in the season. Although he has netted in the FA Cup ties against Blackburn and Millwall, it is ten outings since he scored in the Championship.
The 26-year-old's reputation was soured slightly when he was dismissed in controversial fashion for a flying elbow in Coventry's home fixture against West Brom back in November after referee Phil Dowd allegedly required help from the fourth official and his television monitor to make the decision.
Last Time Out
Norwich 1 Preston 0
Preston Lonergan, Jones, St. Ledger, Chilvers, Davidson (Hill 22), Whaley, Carter, McKenna, Lewis Neal (Chaplow 82), Hawley, Mellor (Ormerod 70)
Subs Not Used: Chris Neal, Trotman.
Coventry 4 Barnsley 0
Coventry: Konstantopoulos, Osbourne, Ward, De Zeeuw (Dann 85), Fox, Tabb, Stephen Hughes, Doyle, Gray (Davis 83), Mifsud (Simpson 72), Best.
Subs Not Used: Cairo, Michael Hughes.
Head-To-Head
There have been few meetings between the two clubs, with only ten taking place prior to 2000 when both teams took residence in the second tier of English football.
Since then they have met at least twice every season with North End's biggest win coming at the back end of the 2006/07 when they demolished Coventry 4-0 at the Ricoh Arena.
The overall statistics show the clubs to be neck-and-neck, with both winning nine a piece whilst there has also been eight draws.
There has only ever been one FA Cup meeting, Coventry turning out 2-1 victors at Deepdale back in January of 1910.
Last Time We Met At Deepdale
Preston North End 1 Coventry City 1
28th November, 2006
Nugent 35, Adebola 80
Attendance: 13,104
Referee - Mr Mike Pike
The Cumbrian official will be making his second trip to Deepdale this season, his first visit being the 2-0 Preston victory over Plymouth Argyle back at the end of October. He was pretty lenient on that day taking only one name in his notebook, that of Sean St Ledger.
This will be only his 17th match of the season having fluctuated between all three Football League divisions and the FA Cup. Pike's stats are pretty impressive with him brandishing only 31 yellows and the solitary red, dismissing Ipswich's Castro Sito at the end of January in the Tractor Boys game at Bloomfield Road.
It's also worth noting that only one penalty has been scored in all of his matches this campaign.
Betting
Preston Evens, Coventry, 13/5, Draw, 5/2. Fancy Chris Brown to score the only goal of the game on his return to the Preston side? Why not have a flutter with odds of 35/1. Click here now to go to North End's official betting portal, pnebetting.co.uk
Listen Live
Join us on Whites World from 2.30pm where Matt Morris and Robert 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 now from just £3.99 per month or £19.99 for the remainder of the season, 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
You know the score, at Deepdale Preston always wear the traditional attire of white shirts, blue shorts and white socks.
Don't forget you can buy tickets online at MyPNE.com until 23:59 on Friday night, or by calling 0870 442 1966 at any time until kick-off.
