Preston North End boss Simon Grayson believes the Club’s Capital One Cup tie against Rochdale will provide a tough test for his players.
The Lilywhites will travel to Spotland Stadium to take on Keith Hill’s side for the first round of the competition week commencing Monday 11th August.
The Dale finished third in Sky Bet League Two last season, meaning they will compete in League One in 2014/15, and Grayson is well aware of the threat the Greater Manchester outfit pose.
“With us being seeded we weren’t going to get any of the big Championship teams but Rochdale are a tough team and they’ve performed very well last year,” he told PNE.Com in an exclusive interview.
“They had a big scalp against Leeds United in the cup and gave us a good pre-season game as well this time last year.
“So it’s not going to be easy, they’re in our division as well. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
“We’ve got a lot of work to be done over the pre-season weeks and days but I suppose the excitement was never going to be the same as this time last year when the draw was made for the Blackpool game.”
Fixtures for the 2014/15 Football League season will be announced tomorrow, Wednesday 18th June, and Grayson believes the release of the schedule will get the Club’s fans even more excited for the new campaign.
He added: “We will be excited, obviously the fixtures come out on Wednesday morning which is obviously the big thing everybody will be looking at.
“It really hits home when the fixtures come out about the football season if it’s not already at everybody’s forefront with the World Cup.”