PNE manager Simon Grayson is excited to face his old side in the first round of the Capital One Cup.
Grayson was both a player and a manager at rivals Blackpool, but his focus is now only on winning the game with the Lilywhites.
“There will be a great atmosphere and rivalry and the build up to these sort of games is really intense, so we will certainly be looking to put one over on them,” he told the official website.
It will be the first time in three years that the two sides face each other and the North End gaffer believes there will be no love lost between the Lancashire teams.
“It is an interesting draw and obviously a draw that’s going to drum up a great deal of interest and lift the profile for us as a football club, so I’m excited about it and hopefully we can get a good result against them.
“It will be no different to any other Blackpool and Preston game where tackles are flying in, the banter with the supporters is there and hopefully come the end of the game we will have got the right result for us and the supporters can have the bragging rights for many years to come.
“The League Cup over the last few years has been criticised for not getting the respect that it deserves, but it’s a fantastic cup. I’ve won this cup with Leicester in 1997 and it is a great cup to be involved in.
“The earlier rounds can be a little bit low key until the big teams come in to it, but our game is obviously a really high profile game and hopefully the game can do itself justice for both football clubs and the Capital One Cup.”
The game will be played just days after the new League One season starts and things are looking up for the Lilywhites with plenty of positive news over the last few weeks and an exciting derby to look forward to.
“With the Liverpool game and the Blackpool game now and the first game of the season with the fixtures coming soon, they are coming thick and fast and it really whets the appetite for everybody,” he continued.
Grayson believes that the Blackpool fixture will get the team fired up for the new campaign, and it was the perfect draw for his side.
“It is great for the players, because they want to be involved in these big games and there would be nothing worse than a draw where we would have to travel long distance on a Tuesday night to a team lower down.
“No disrespect to them, but this is a great one to get the juices flowing and everybody connected with both clubs will be looking forward to playing each other.”
The match will be played on the week commencing 5th July and details on dates, times and tickets are to be announced later on in the week.