THE timing of the recent international break may not have been an ideal one for today's visitors, Preston North End, who got their 2008/09 campaign off to a scintillating start and perhaps could have done without a fortnight off.
The Lilywhites remain unbeaten in the league after four games, recording three wins and a draw to sit joint top of the Championship table. Their positive start reflects a big turnaround from last season, when a campaign of relative turmoil at Deepdale saw managerial change and a disappointing finish in the bottom half of the table.
Paul Simpson - having led North End to within one place of a spot in the play-offs in 2006/07 - was dismissed in mid-November, with the Lilywhites languishing in the relegation zone.
Former Everton assistant manager Alan Irvine was awarded his first senior management role, although there was no instant transformation in fortunes.
Preston lost their first three matches with Irvine in charge and actually slipped to the foot of the table, although December brought with it three much-needed wins and by the time January had ended with a 2-1 victory over West Brom at the Hawthorns, the Lilywhites were moving in the right direction.
Their 1-0 win against Coventry at the Ricoh Arena in March lifted Preston out of the relegation zone before a sequence of seven matches unbeaten secured their Championship status some four games before the end of the season.
It was not a summer of wholesale change at Deepdale, with only three new players arriving on permanent contracts.
Scottish international Barry Nicholson joined from Aberdeen and got his Preston career off to a positive start with two goals in his first four league outings, while Jon Parkin saw his loan switch turned permanent after he impressed the manager in his North End debut.
Striker Stephen Elliott was a transfer deadline day arrival from Wolves while Ross Wallace is on loan from Sunderland.
Preston North End
Manager: Alan Irvine
Assistant: Robert Kelly
Last season position: 15th
Nickname: The Lilywhites
Football Ground: Deepdale
Last three (most recent first): PNE 2-1 Charlton (Mellor, Nicholson), PNE 0-1 Derby (Carling Cup), Sheff Wed 1-1 PNE.
Next Fixtures: Tue 16 Sep Nottingham Forest (H), Sat 20 Sep Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)
Confirmed Injuries: None
Last season's top scorer: Neil Mellor 10 - League: 9, Cups: 1
Player of the Year: Sean St Ledger
This Season
Leading Scorers (League only): Richard Chaplow and Barry Nicholson w/ 2 goals each
Leading Scorers (Total): Neil Meller w/ 3 goals (2 from cup games)
Goals so far (League only): 7 goals in 4 games
Goals so far (Total): 9 goals in 6 games
Most Yellow Cards: Hill, Mawene, Mellor and Hart w/ 1 card each
Total Yellow Cards: 4
Total Red Cards: 0
Last time: (4-4-2) Lonergan; Jones, Mawene, St. Ledger, Hart; Nicholson, Chaplow, McKenna (Carter, 78), Sedgwick (Whaley, 89); Parkin, Mellor (Hawley, 89). Substitutes not used: C Neal (gk), Wallace.
STAT One of Preston's main players, Andy Lonergan, 24, made his Preston debut away at Coventry eight years ago when he was aged just 16.
The Last Time we Met
The Sky Blues visited Deepdale back in February and continued their winless league run at the ground, with Sean St Ledger's first half header enough to seal the three points for North End, in what was Iain Dowie's penultimate league game in charge of the club. Earlier in the campaign Preston seemed to be heading for victory at the Ricoh Arena but ended up losing 2-1, when late goals from Dele Adebola and Michael Doyle cancelled out Patrick Agyemang's first half opener.
All-time Head-to-Head
Cov Draws Preston
League 6 8 10
FA Cup 1 0 0
League Cup 2 0 0
TOTAL 9 8 10
The teams often have interesting scores; of their last 27 games (since 1910) only two have been goalless draws, yet 13 games have contained four or more goals.
