Match Preview: Barnsley (H)

9 December 2021

Ryan Lowe will take charge of Preston North End for the first time on Saturday afternoon when Barnsley come to Deepdale.

Match Information
Venue: Deepdale
Date: Saturday 11^th December, 3pm kick-off
Competition: EFL Sky Bet Championship (Matchday 22/46)
Kit: Home kit – available to order here!

Supporter Information

Half season cards for the final 12 home league games are on sale, and if you buy prior to kick-off on Saturday afternoon, you will get the Barnsley game added for free as part of the offer! Find full details here.

Individual match tickets are being sold as normal all the way up until kick-off – available to buy online from www.mypne.com, over the phone on 0344 856 1966 and in person from the Deepdale ticket office.

While Covid certification is not required for Saturday's game, face coverings will be required in indoor settings, such as the concourse, hospitality and the fan zone, unless eating or drinking.

Our fan zone will once again be open this weekend from 12pm, with the usual offerings of refreshments and live music, and joining us in the fan zone this weekend is former PNE midfielder Mark Patterson, who will be selling his new book ‘Old School - A Proper Football Education’.

Match Coverage

Supporters overseas will be able to watch this game live on iFollow PNE with a seasonal or £10 match pass, while those in the UK and Ireland will be able to listen live for £2.50. Subscribe here!

We will be providing our usual coverage of the match across our social media channels on Saturday, and live updates can be found on our match centre here on PNE.Com.

The Weekend Warm Up

Our new manager joined us in the studio for the latest episode of The Weekend Warm Up, as he discusses his first few days at Euxton while looking ahead to Saturday's fixture.

Watch the episode in full here!

Matchday Programme

Striker Ched Evans is our featured interview in this weekend's edition of the matchday programme, as he discusses his return to action in recent weeks following injury. Read part of his interview here.

Also in this edition of The One And Only, Joe Rodwell-Grant answers your questions, Alan Browne reflects on his most memorable game and Scott Sinclair tells us his favourite things.

You can get your hands on a copy from around the ground for £3.50 on Saturday afternoon, or alternatively order one to arrive straight to your door by clicking here.

PNE Team News

In his pre-match press conference, manager Ryan Lowe said there were a few knocks within the team, with Ched Evans, Andrew Hughes and Sepp van den Berg all struggling.

Lowe also told the media that Tom Barkhuizen, who missed last weekend's defeat through injury, and Josh Murphy are both being checked out to see when they can return.

The Opposition

Barnsley have endured a difficult season so far, having picked up just two victories from their 21 Championship games.

After last season’s remarkable push for the Play-Offs, Valérien Ismaël left for West Brom, and in came Markus Schopp, but he lost his job and was replaced by former Sweden U21 boss Poya Asbaghi in November.

He is yet to experience the feeling of victory in his short time in charge and if he’s to do that on Saturday afternoon, it would be Barnsley’s first away win of the season in league action.

Key Stats

In Cauley Woodrow, Barnsley have a striker who they have relied on for double figures in terms of goals in their past two Championship campaigns, however he’s netted only three so far this term heading into Saturday.

PNE have had a good record over the Tykes in recent years, having come out on top in three of the last four meetings, with the first of those being a 5-1 victory at Deepdale in October 2019.

The overall head-to-head record between the two sides sees PNE just about edge it, having won 25 times compared to Barnsley’s 20. The first time they faced each other was all the way back in September 1901.

Our Last Meeting

North End came out 2-0 winners the last time they came up against the Tykes in the penultimate game of the 2020/21 season.

Jordan Storey and Ched Evans were on the scoresheet that afternoon, with close-range finishes sealing a third consecutive victory.

Man In The Middle

Experienced EFL referee Keith Stroud will take the whistle this weekend to take charge of his first PNE fixture this season.

He’s certainly no stranger to North End, having regularly officiated their matches over the years, dating back to 2005.

Stroud has been the main official of 15 games so far this term, the majority of those games being in the Championship.

Pre-Match Interview

DJ’s ‘Really Good’ First Impressions Of New Boss

Match Reports

Match Report: PNE 2 Barnsley 1

11 December 2021

Preston North End came out on top against Barnsley thanks to goals from Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson.

PNE went ahead within 12 minutes of the second half, with captain Browne getting his first goal of the season, but the visitors drew level shortly after through Cauley Woodrow.

Johnson then gave his side the lead again, though, on the end of a well-worked set piece, and that was enough to give his side all three points on Ryan Lowe’s first game in charge.

Lowe’s first starting XI saw five changes made, which included Sepp van den Berg and Andrew Hughes, who returned from injury, while Daniel Johnson, Patrick Bauer and Sean Maguire all came in to start.

The hosts created a great opportunity early on through Johnson, as he had the ball cut back to him inside the area by Josh Earl, but he couldn’t keep his left-footed, curling effort down.

Barnsley had a good opportunity themselves to break the deadlock on 17 minutes and came very close to doing so, as Carlton Morris headed against the crossbar, before the rebound was collected by Daniel Iversen.

Andrew Hughes then had a good headed chance at the other end, rising highest in the area to meet Ben Whiteman’s cross, but it landed the wrong side of the post.

North End broke down the right channel a couple of times in the next ten minutes, firstly through Maguire, who chose to shoot and saw that attempt blocked, before Emil Riis later looked to find his strike partner in the box, but the ball was just out of reach of the Irishman.

It was the same situation for Clarke Odour just before the break, as he couldn’t quite get on the end of Morris’ cross, and he came close again minutes into the second half, with Daniel Iversen diving low to his left to deny the forward.

PNE would be the ones to go in front, though, and what a good goal it was, with Johnson finding skipper Browne in space running towards goal and he kept his cool to beat Brad Collins at his near post.

However, the teams were soon back level as Woodrow nodded home from close range after Callum Brittain had fired an effort into the ground.

North End took the lead once more, though, on 78 minutes, as substitute Ryan Ledson – on his 100th appearance for the club – smartly pulled a free-kick back to Johnson on the penalty spot and he slotted home to make it 2-1.

Ledson almost had a goal himself, sending a left-footed effort goalbound, only for Collins to keep him out, but it wasn't to matter as the home side held out for all three points.

PNE line-up: Iversen; van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; McCann (Ledson, 69), Browne, Whiteman, Johnson (Potts, 90), Earl; Riis, Maguire (Sinclair, 70). Subs not used: Hudson, Cunningham, Lindsay, Rafferty.

Barnsley line-up: Collins; Helik, Andersen, Kitching; Brittain, Palmer, Gomes, Styles (Adevoyejo, 84); Odour (Leya Iseka, 76), Woodrow (Benson, 84), Morris. Subs not used: Jinadu, Williams, Benson, Moon, Vita.

Referee: Mr K Stroud

Attendance: 11,106 (798 away fans)

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