SWANSEA CITY VERSUS PRESTON NORTH END

Npower Championship
Venue: Liberty Stadium Date: Saturday, 14 August 2010 Kick-off: 3pm
Coverage: PNE Player Live Commentary from 2.30pm. Post Match Reaction on PNE Player and pne.com from Saturday evening. Extended highlights on PNE Player from Monday.

Preston North End will be aiming to get their first win at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, a victory which would represent Darren Ferguson's first league win of the season.

The Lilywhites will be buoyed by their 5-0 demolition of Stockport County in midweek. The win was North End's biggest victory on the road since January 1999 when David Moyes' North End were rampant against a Wrexham team which was spearheaded by Kevin Russell and Ian Rush.

The manner of Preston's victory on Tuesday was the most impressive, Ferguson's men could have had more in a dominant second half display and the Club's youngsters, Bailey Wright, Doyle Middleton, Adam Barton, Danny Mayor and loanee Joshua King all impressed.

The Swans have had different managers for each of North End's last two visits to the Liberty Stadium and they will have a third new name in the opposite dug-out on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers following in the footsteps of Roberto Martinez and Paulo Sousa before him. The former Reading boss has been chosen because he plays a similar brand of football to his predecessors and with North End also playing football on the floor, it promises to be a game for the purists.

TEAM NEWS
North End will definitely welcome back international duo Craig Morgan and Keith Treacy, the pair got game time for Wales and Ireland in midweek and came back unscathed. The Lilywhites may also be able to call upon Sean St. Ledger, the centre-half has missed the last two games after injuring a hamstring a fortnight ago but has been pencilled in for a return. Jon Parkin is also close to a return but the Preston fans will have to wait a little while longer before they see Wayne Brown back in action for the Club.

Preston employed a 4-3-3 formation against the Swans last season and PNE boss Darren Ferguson certainly has the personnel to go that way again if he wishes. Darel Russell will be pushing for a return for the starting line-up whilst Joshau King will be itching to get a start following his impressive displays from the bench.

It remains to be seen whether Tuesday night debutants, Bailey Wright and Doyle Middleton will be named in the squad for the trip down to South Wales.

Swansea could be set to give a debut to new signing Scott Sinclair, the former Chelsea winger signed for the Welsh club earlier this week and could be joined by Dutch U21 international Kemy Agustien who has been on trial. The Swans are reported to be keen on adding to their firepower in attack and have been linked with a move for Hull City's Caleb Folan and former striker Jason Scotland.

Speaking to the Western Mail this week Rodgers said: "There hasn't been any progress yet. The club are working hard to bring someone in though and we still have a few weeks to go.

"Obviously I would rather have someone in sooner rather than later. We have had a couple of things turned down, but the search continues."

One man who may or may not be in the starting eleven is midfielder Darren Pratley. The former Arsenal trainee was subject of a big bid from Nottingham Forest earlier this week but has issued a public statement to declare that he will see out the remainder of his contract at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea made seven changes for the 3-0 victory over Barnet in midweek which means that Rodgers might have some selection dilemmas. The team that started the opening game of the season, a 2-0 defeat at Hull City was as follows.

GK: Dorus De Vries
RB: Alan Tate
LB: Albert Serran
CB: Gary Monk
CB: Ashley Williams
RM: Nathan Dyer
LM: David Cotterill
CM: Darren Pratley
CM: Jordi Lopez
CM: Mark Gower
CF: Stephen Dobbie

One To Watch
Stephen Dobbie
Former Rangers trainee who made his name during a prolific spell with Queen of the South scoring an impressive 54 goals from 84 league and cup starts. Joined the Swans on a free transfer last summer but couldn't nail down a starting position under Paulo Sousa and was loaned out to Blackpool. The striker rediscovered his goalscoring form with the Tangerines, scoring five goals from six starts, including a goal in the Play-Off defeat of Nottingham Forest. But Blackpool could not afford the transfer fee and Dobbie returned to Swansea, starting the opening game of the season last weekend at Hull City.

Preston Connection
Craig Beattie
The striker looked like a fantastic prospect when he scored 16 goals from 21 starts with Celtic, so much so that West Brom paid £1.25m for his services in the summer of 2007. He continued that vein of form with the Baggies scoring seven from 12 starts but found it harder and harder to force his way into Tony Mowbray's plans and in March 2008 he joined the Lilywhites on loan.

Beattie made his debut at Leicester City with the Lilywhites in the midst of a relegation battle but it was an unhappy beginning to his career under Alan Irvine, he limped off with a serious hamstring injury before the break and was only used again the final game of the season, two months later, a 3-0 defeat at Bristol City.

Last Season's Top Scorer: Darren Pratley - 7 goals from 34 games

Most League and Cup Appearances Last Season: Dorus De Vries - 48 games

Last Season's Bad Boy: Darren Pratley - 59 fouls, six yellow cards

We've Met Before
As previously mentioned, North End have never won at the Liberty Stadium, their 2-0 defeat there last campaign was only their second visit and only Darren Ferguson's third away game for Preston.

You have to go all the way back to August 1961 for North End's last victory in Swansea, an Alex Alston brace helping the Lilywhites to a 2-1 victory.

The Man In The Middle
Steve Rushton from Staffordshire takes charge of Saturday's game at the Liberty Stadium.

Colours
Swans - white shirts, black shorts, white socks
North End - yellow shirts, blue shorts, blue and yellow socks.