After two consecutive away games for the Lilywhites, they will return to Deepdale on Saturday 23rd August to face Oldham Athletic.
Founded: 1895
Nickname: The Latics
Stadium: Boundary Park
Manager: Lee Johnson
Last Season: 15th in League One
In Lee Johnson’s first full season in charge, the Latics finished mid table in 15th place in 2013/14, an improvement on the previous year when they found themselves in a relegation battle, finishing just two places above the bottom four.
Oldham have been in the third tier of English football since 1997 when they were relegated from Division One, now the Championship. With their 18th campaign in this league set to start in August, the Latics fans will be hoping to again improve on last season’s standings and move up the League One table.
The summer saw a huge turnover of players, with many out of contract, so the Club began rebuilding its squad under the management of Johnson.
This time around Johnson will be hoping to build on the foundations of last year, already making some summer signings to boost their squad.
Left back Joseph Mills has signed on a two-year deal from Burnley and midfielder Mike Jones and defender Brian Wilson have also joined the Latics already this summer.
Last season proved a tricky one for Johnson and his side, having got off to a good start with a 4-3 win over Stevenage, they went on to win just one of their next nine league games.
The season continued in similar fashion, but their best run of form came in October and November, when they won seven and drew three of their 12 games in lead up to the Christmas period. Two of those wins were in Cup competitions, with a 5-1 win over Notts County in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and a 2-1 win at Wolves in the FA Cup.
Their FA Cup run ended at Anfield in the third round tie against Liverpool with a 2-0 defeat, but they made the Premier League boys work hard for the victory.
Out of all of the Cup competitions, it meant the final months of the season could be focused on survival in League One and that is what they did, climbing the table to finishing nine points clear of the drop zone.
These two sides faced each other on three occasions last season, twice in the League and once in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
North End came out on top in this fixture last season, winning the game 2-1 thanks to first half goals from Stuart Beavon and Kevin Davies. Just a month later, Oldham came out on top against a different looking PNE side at Deepdale in the JPT with a 2-0 win.
The return fixture at Boundary Park will be played on Saturday 28th February, and Simon Grayson will be hoping his side can repeat last season’s result when they came out 3-1 winners.
If you think that Lee Johnson’s side can go one better than last year and win promotion, you can get a price of 14/1 with Sky Bet.
Sky Bet Odds
League One Winner – 40/1
Promotion – 14/1
Relegation – 5/2
Place your bets via PNEBetting.Com, and this will benefit Preston North End when you place your bet.
Below you can use our interactive map to see how far the Latics fans will be travelling to get to Deepdale, and your journey for the away leg in February.