Match Preview: Millwall (H)

14 April 2022

Preston North End will look for a fourth successive Championship home victory for the first time since 2019 when Millwall come to Deepdale on Good Friday.

Match Information
Venue: Deepdale
Date: Friday 15th April, 3pm kick-off
Competition: EFL Sky Bet Championship (Matchday 42/46)
Kit: Home kit – available to order here!

Supporter Information

Tickets for this fixture will remain on sale right up until kick-off on Friday, with supporters able to buy online 24/7 from www.mypne.com, and in person or over the phone from the ticket office during opening hours.

Our fan zone will be open as normal to home supporters from 12pm, with food, drink and live music on offer before the game. It will then reopen at full-time and you can take advantage of a half-price post-match offer on our selection of Bowland Brewery cask ales.

Match Coverage

Supporters in the UK and Ireland can listen to the game live on iFollow PNE with a £2.50 match pass, with live commentary coming from Anthony Wareing and David Buchanan. Those overseas are able to watch the game live for £10, with full subscription details here.

We will also have our usual coverage before, during and after the game across our social media channels as well as here on PNE.Com.

Matchday Programme

Liam Lindsay is the featured interview in Friday's edition of The One And Only.

The Scottish defender talks in-depth about his time with the club so far, his high hopes for next season with PNE, and we learn more about him away from the pitch.

Get yourself a copy from around the ground on Friday for £3.50 or you can order a copy to arrive straight to your home by clicking here.

PNE Team News

Ryan Lowe said striker Emil Riis is 50/50 for Friday's game, with the club awaiting results of the scan on an injury the Danish forward picked up last weekend.

Ched Evans has had a few days of training and should be available for selection after his own injury troubles, while Brad Potts and Josh Earl have both recovered from illness.

Liam Lindsay returns to contention after serving his two-match suspension.

The Opposition

The Lions arrive at Deepdale still within a shout of the Play-Off places, sitting four points outside of the top six with five games to go.

A remarkable run of five straight victories between February and the beginning of March pushed them right into the mix, but just two victories in their last seven has left them with work to do.

On the back of a 4-1 thrashing of Barnsley, Gary Rowett’s side will no doubt be confident upon their arrival in Lancashire, and know that they may need all three points in order to maintain their realistic Play-Off hopes.

Our Last Meeting

PNE last came out on top against Millwall in February 2019, when goals from Andrew Hughes, Tom Clarke and Sean Maguire inside the opening half hour of the game set North End on their way to victory in the capital.

Ben Thompson pulled a goal back for the hosts in the second half, but PNE came out 3-1 winners.

Key Stats

PNE are winless in their last five meetings with the Lions, with four of those games ending in defeat.

North End are looking to win four successive Championship home matches for the first time since September 2019, when Alex Neil was the man in charge.

Josh Earl, who was missing through illness last weekend, could return to make his 100th appearance in professional football.

Man In The Middle

Thomas Bramall will take charge of his second Preston North End fixture of the season on Friday.

Bramall refereed the home victory over Swansea City earlier in the campaign, while the only other previous PNE game which he has taken charge of was the defeat to Luton Town in March 2021.

He has officiated 28 games so far this term, showing 88 yellow cards and five reds.

Pre-Match Interviews

Ryan On 'Very Strong'
Millwall Side DJ Targeting
Maximum Points

Match Reports

Match Report: PNE 1 Millwall 1

15 April 2022

A goal at either end from Millwall defender Murray Wallace meant PNE and the Lions shared the points on Good Friday.

The visiting No.3 put the ball into the back of his own net within the first six minutes of the game, before equalising halfway through the first period with a powerful header.

PNE got off to a fast start, creating a great opportunity within two minutes of kick-off, with Daniel Johnson cutting back for Brad Potts who saw his first-time effort blocked.

North End weren’t made to wait long for their lead though, as Johnson squared another ball just a few minutes later and, with Maguire lurking behind him, Wallace put the ball into his own net.

However, the Millwall defender cancelled out that inadvertent finish with a goal at the other end, heading home from his namesake Jed Wallace’s cross.

On the half-hour mark, skipper and birthday boy Alan Browne had to be replaced by Ali McCann due to injury, and the Northern Ireland international kickstarted a counter attack within a few minutes, finding DJ who had a choice between shooting or squaring to a group of PNE men. He chose the latter, but his pass had too much power on it for McCann to take control of.

The sides went into the break level and on 55 minutes the visitors would have had the lead were it not for the heroics of Daniel Iversen, with the goalkeeper producing an incredible triple save, before Kieftenbeld’s long-range effort then struck the outside of the post.

At the other end, Sean Maguire came close for North End, seeing an effort kept out after a smart one-two between the Irishman and Cameron Archer.

Ched Evans and Josh Murphy were soon on as part of a double change and they almost made an instant impact, with Evans finding the latter, who cut onto his left foot before bending an effort towards the far corner, which Bialkowski was able to get a hand to.

Iversen was called into action again before the game was done, denying Afobe and substitute Tom Bradshaw, and PNE could have won the game deep into stoppage time, with Murphy firing a vicious ball across the face of goal, but it was dealt with by the Millwall defence.

PNE line-up: Iversen; van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Potts (Murphy, 67), Whiteman, Browne (McCann, 29), Johnson, Cunningham; Maguire (Evans 67), Archer. Subs not used: Ripley, Sinclair, Earl, Diaby.

Millwall line-up: Bialkowski; Ballard, Cooper, Wallace; McNamara, Kieftenbeld, Wallace, Mitchell (Saville, 73), Malone; Afobe, Burke (Bradshaw, 71). Subs not used: Long, Hutchinson, Ojo, Leonard, Evans.

Attendance: 11,979 (578 away fans).

Referee: Mr T Bramall.

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