Preston North End v Sheffield United,
Saturday 29th March, 2008
Coca-Cola Championship
Deepdale, 3pm kick-off

Preston will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce at Deepdale and five in the last six when they take on Sheffield United on Saturday. The Roses clash comes after North End have taken four points from two derby games, a 0-0 draw at Blackpool and a 2-1 win over Burnley last time out. The sides would have expected to be closer to the Play-Offs at this stage of the season but both have had difficult campaigns and lost a manager in the process. However, both are now amongst the form sides in the division and are finishing the season strongly.

Kevin Blackwell took the Blades job in February and they are currently on a four game winning streak, maintaining feint hopes of making the Play-Offs. North End have no new injury worries after eight first team members came through a reserve game on Wednesday afternoon. Neil Mellor added another two goals to his impressive reserve tally in that fixture but Alan Irvine is expected to stick with Chris Brown and Tamas Priskin up front, both having scored last time out.

The League Table

Preston's recent revival has led them to 15th spot, within touching distance of safety and ahead of rivals Blackpool for the first time in 2008. A North End victory could see them rise two places further in the table if QPR and Cardiff lose, although Cardiff have two games in hand. They could even leapfrog their opponents, but only if the Lilywhites win by an unlikely five goal margin. A home defeat could see North End drop two places if Blackpool draw or win and Norwich win at Bristol City. A draw would leave Preston within one victory of Alan Irvine's 54 point safety target but again could see them drop a couple of places if results went against them.

Ones to Watch

Tamas Priskin



The on-loan striker scored his first goal for North End last time out in the derby win over Burnley and will be keen to add to his tally. The Hungarian hitman is in line to make his fifth consecutive start following his temporary move from league high flyers Watford. Priskin played just over an hour of Hungary's 1-0 defeat to Slovenia in midweek but was unable to add to his tally of six international goals. The Hornets striker is initially on a one month loan and manager Alan Irvine has yet to indicate whether he would like to extend the deal until the end of the season.

Billy Sharp



The Sheffield United striker is on a hot streak having scored in his last three games and helping the Blades to four successive victories. Sharp was sold by United for just £100,000 in 2005 but two years later the club bought him back off Scunthorpe United for a fee thought to be around £2m.  Having struggled early in the season, new manager Blackwell has given him a chance and he has been repaid with a goalscoring run. A prolific goalscorer throughout his career so far, Sharp scores once in every two games he plays on average so the Preston defence will need to keep a close eye on him.

Last Time Out

Preston 2-1 Burnley
Preston: Lonergan, Jones, Mawene, St. Ledger, Davidson, Sedgwick, McKenna, Carter, Whaley, Priskin (Mellor 70), Brown.
Subs Not Used: Chris Neal, Chaplow, Hill, Lewis Neal.

Barnsley 0-1 Sheffield United
Sheff Utd: Kenny, Geary (Halls 37), Morgan, Kilgallon, Naysmith, Cotterill, Speed, Tonge, Carney (Gillespie 71), Sharp, Hulse (Beattie 62).
Subs Not Used: Stead, Ehiogu.

Head To Head

There have been 94 meetings between the two sides with Sheffield United winning 41 to Preston's 29. The remaining 24 have been draws, with an average of just over two goals per game in fixtures between the sides. The first meeting between the two took place way back in 1893, with the game finishing as a 1-1 draw. The fixture was absent from the list last year due to the Blades being in the Premier League but relegation means that the teams meet at Deepdale for the first time since December 2005. Preston are winless in seven games against United, the Lilywhites last triumph being in April 2002, when Dickson Etuhu and Eddie Lewis scored in a 2-0 victory.

Last Time We Met At Deepdale
Preston 0 Sheffield United 0
16/12/05 - Coca-Cola Championship
Attendance: 14,378

Betting

North End are priced at 6/5 to take the spoils, Sheffield United are 9/4 whilst a draw is 23/10. Why not take a chance on a scorecast, for example, Chris Brown to score first and Preston to win 2-1 is a nice 45/1. All prices are with North End's official betting partner, pnebetting.co.uk.

Referee - Clive Oliver

Clive Oliver has officiated North End once this season, the 1-0 defeat by Barnsley at Oakwell. He awarded North End a late penalty that day but Neil Mellor was unable to convert the spot kick.

Oliver has officiated 28 games this season, 10 at Championship level including last weeks 3-3 draw between Wolves and QPR. He has dished out 73 yellow cards and 1 red during that period. His first game at Championship level was Preston's 1-0 win over Gillingham in 2003.

Listen Live

Join us on Whites World from 2.30pm where Matt Morris and Rob Urbani will provide all the big match build-up, with Jonathan Breeze taking over at 3pm to provide exclusive full match commentary. Whites World is available now from just £3.99 per month, meaning you can follow North End from anywhere on the globe. Don't forget to send your thoughts and opinions on the game to matchday@pne.com.