Lancashire referee Darren Bond takes charge of his second North End game of the season when the Lilywhites entertain Frank Lampard’s Derby County on Friday night.
His first game was the home clash with Reading back in mid-September, whilst this will be his third Rams game of the campaign, having officiated their 2-0 win in the first round of the Carabao Cup at Oldham Athletic and their 1-1 draw at Bristol City in December.
Last season Darren took charge of three PNE games. He was the match official in the club’s home draw against Millwall in September, our 2-1 win at Bristol City back in November 2017 and the 2-0 victory over Sunderland up at the Stadium of Light in March.
This will be his 24th game of this season, having issued 71 yellow cards and four reds in the 23 games so far refereed, his last being Aston Villa’s 2-2 home draw with Hull City on 19th January.
Although he had done numerous friendlies and other games involving Preston North End, the 2016/17 season was the first time the experienced official took charge of competitive fixtures involving the club, as he refereed the two home 1-1 draws with Burton Albion and Nottingham Forest.
The referee will be assisted by Andrew Fox and Ian Cooper, with experienced select group two referee Jeremy Simpson as the fourth official.