Preston North End v Ipswich Town
Preston North End v Ipswich Town,
Saturday 26th April, 2007,
Coca-Cola Championship,
Deepdale, 3pm kick-off
North End will be striving to put on a show for their supporters in the penultimate fixture of the 2007/08 campaign.
Ipswich Town are the 23rd and final visitors to Deepdale in the Championship this season, but they will be no pushovers as they have Play-Off agendas at the top half of the table.
The Tractor Boys currently sit three points outside the top-six, so realistically a win for Jim Magilton's men is a necessity if they harbour any ambitions of breaking into the Play-Offs through the back door.
Alan Irvine enters with game safe in the knowledge that Championship football is assured for next season following the last-gasp 2-2 draw at Plymouth last weekend. However, the PNE manager is keen to end the season on a high and will not want standards to slip in the final couple of matches.
North End look set to hand home debuts to Neal Trotman and Michael Hart following injuries to Sean St Ledger and Billy Jones. Ledge limped out of the clash at Home Park with a slight hamstring problem and has failed to recover in time, whilst Billy Jones is ruled out of the remaining fixtures with a gash in the Achilles region.
Chris Brown is rated as doubtful following a back injury but should the tall striker train on Friday then he could be thrown into the reckoning.
Jim Magilton may have Shefki Kuqi available after a hamstring strain but David Norris will not be rushed after a heel injury.
The League Table
Preston North End are mathematically safe - fact. However a healthy win for the Lilywhites on Saturday coupled with a defeat for QPR at Norwich could see Alan Irvine's men leap up to 14th in the Championship table.
A defeat could see Preston drop down a couple of places but that would be dependant on Blackpool and Coventry beating Plymouth Argyle and Wolves respectively. Both Norwich and Barnsley find themselves three points behind Preston but it is unlikely they would move above Preston due to their inferior goal difference.
Ipswich could find themselves in sixth spot with a victory in Lancashire but for that to happen, Crystal Palace need to lose away at fellow promotion-chasing Hull City.
West Bromwich Albion can clinch their place in the Premiership if they defeat Southampton.
Ones To Watch
Neal Trotman
Saturday will be a special day for the youngster from Manchester as not only will he be making his home debut for North End but he will also be celebrating his 21st birthday.
With Sean St Ledger set to miss out with a hamstring problem, the centre-half has a chance to show the home supporters why Alan Irvine brought him to Deepdale from Oldham Athletic on a three-and-a-half year deal back in the January transfer window,
Neal was thrust into the action last weekend and did not look out of place at Home Park, giving a solid performance on his first outing for the club and he also admitted to having no nerves in an exclusive Whites World interview following the full-time whistle.
Saturday will hopefully be the first of many appearances that the Preston faithful will witness Neal make.
Tommy Miller
The 29-year-old midfielder knows this division inside-out having played at this level since 2001.
Having started his career with Hartlepool, Miller moved to Ipswich then Sunderland before returning to Portman Road at the start of the season.
The Scotsman also played seven games in Preston colours back in 2006 during a short loan spell, however he failed to find the net in any of his appearances.
Tommy was influential in Ipswich's victory over the Lilywhites at Portman Road earlier in the season scoring the second in their 2-1 victory. So far this campaign he has played a part in 36 matches, has scored four goals and has also been dismissed once - away at Coventry City in December.
Miller was the hero last weekend, netting the last minute equaliser to Wolves to secure a vital point for Ipswich.
Last Time Out
Plymouth 2 PNE 2
Preston: Lonergan, Jones, Mawene, St. Ledger (Trotman 31), Davidson, Sedgwick (Carter 89), McKenna, Chaplow, Lewis Neal (Whaley 75), Mellor, Hawley.
Subs Not Used: Chris Neal, Hill.
Wolves 1 Ipswich 1
Ipswich: Bywater, Simpson, De Vos, Bruce, Wright, Haynes (Lee 77), Miller, Garvan, Quinn, Walters, Counago (Rhodes 84).
Subs Not Used: Colgan, Williams, Sito.
Head-To-Head
Surprisingly there have been few meetings between the two clubs throughout the years. As it stands, the honours are even with both clubs having won seven each whilst there has also been five draws.
The first meeting between the Lilywhites and the Tractor Boys came in the 1953/54 season when both clubs were drawn together in the FA Cup. PNE ran out convincing winners that day, demolishing their Suffolk counterparts 6-1.
Prior to the 2-1 defeat at Portman Road earlier this season, North End were unbeaten in five matches against Ipswich. Another random statistic is that there has only ever been one 0-0 scoreline - at Deepdale in the 1966/67 season.
Last Time We Met At Deepdale
Preston 1 Ipswich 0
Ricketts (6 mins),
Football League Championship,
13th March 2007,
Attendance: 13,100
Referee - Eddie Ilderton
Saturday's match will be the 30th fixture of the season for the Tyne and Wear official.
So far this season, he has been pretty lenient handing out only 66 yellow cards and three reds.
Out of his past 29 games, 10 have been based in the Championship with the last time he visited Deepdale being back in September when Preston hosted Sheffield Wednesday. The Lilywhites ran out 1-0 victors on that day with Paul Gallagher grabbing the only goal of the game in the first half.
Kit
Preston will be turning out in their normal home combination of white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.
Betting
PNE 17/10, Draw 12/5, Ipswich 6/4. We must be mad to offer such long odds on an away win, but that's the way we do things at pnebetting.co.uk!
Listen Live
Join us on Whites World from 2.30pm where Matt Morris and Robert Urbani will provide all the big match build-up, with Jonathan Breeze taking up the hot-seat from 3pm for live 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.
