Taking charge of only his second game of the season at St Andrews this weekend is experienced Premier League official Keith Stroud.
The Hampshire referee’s first game was a pretty busy one for him, as he cautioned eight and sent off two in last weekend’s 3-1 away win over Bradford City at Peterborough United’s London Road.
Last season his only game with the whistle for a PNE game was on the same weekend, but it is one to forget for North End fans as we lost 5-0 away at Brentford.
The previous season he took charge of this exact same game, at Birmingham, as North End came from 2-0 down against what was then Gary Rowett’s men, with goals from Alan Browne – his last before Tuesday’s long distance stunner – and Greg Cunningham earning the Lilywhites a point.
That was his second North End game in two months after he took charge of the Lilywhites' home win over Sheffield Wednesday in February 2015, as well as PNE's last clash with a steel city side at Deepdale, 2014/15's FA Cup tie with Sheffield United.
The Premier League official also refereed the Lilywhites Play-Off clash with Rotherham United in May 2014 as well as the previous season’s 3-2 home win over Ipswich, when Joe Garner scored a second half hat-trick as a substitute to knock the Tractor Boys out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage.
His two previous league trips to Deepdale also saw wins, the famous 6-0 triumph over Cardiff City, which led to the Play-Offs in 2009 and a 2-1 win over West Brom the previous year, when the Lilywhites ended the game with nine men after the dismissal of both Youl Mawene and Chris Brown.
On Saturday in the second city, Keith will be assisted by James Mainwaring and Nick Greenhalgh, with Darren Handley the fourth official.