Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty Seven: Preston North End v Barnsley

Last updated : 02 February 2010 By Rob Miles (Barnsley Boy)

Team News

 

New loan signings Jay Rodriquez and Filipe Teixeira could come straight into the squad for this rearranged game at Preston. Due to the Reds recent form of four defeats in five, they could be drafted straight into the starting line-up, but the only likely change would be Rodriquez for Jon Macken. Full-backs Bobby Hassell and Rob Kozluk remain sidelined by knee injuries, so Ryan Shotton and Darren Moore will continue.

Likely Lineup:

Luke Steele

Carl Dickinson

Darren Moore

Stephen Foster

Ryan Shotton

Adam Hammill

Nathan Doyle

Hugo Colace

Anderson De Silva

Jon Macken/ Jay Rodriquez

Iain Hume

Head To Head

This game was originally set for Boxing Day but icy conditions around the Deepdale Stadium forced its postponement and since then The Lillywhites have replaced manager Alan Irvine with Darren Ferguson.  Preston won their game at Oakwell 3-0 back in August and was one of the final nails in Simon Davey’s reign as manager. Paul Parry, Neil Mellor and ex-red trainee Jon Parkin grabbing the goals to hand the Lillywhites their first win of the season. That was Preston’s seventh win in 23 trips to Oakwell and they have a far better record at Barnsley’s home than The Reds do in Lancashire. They have won just four times there. They did claim a notable success at Deepdale in the 2007-2008 season. Goals from Diego Leon and a penalty from ex Preston man Jon Macken earning a 2-1 win, six days after FA Cup heartbreak at Wembley. That result secured a first league double of their Roses rivals in 76 years, after winning 1-0 at Oakwell- a result secured in dramatic fashion after Reds keeper Heinz Muller saved a penalty in injury time. The Reds were also very unlucky there last season, losing 2-1 with a deflected effort from Sean St Ledger winning it for Preston two minutes from time.

Barnsley also picked up a League Cup success at Deepdale in their promotion winning campaign of 2005-2006. Jacob Burns grabbed a brace but Danny Dichio and a Graham Alexander penalty one minute from the end of extra time sent the game to penalties which Barnsley won 5-4.

Barnsley 0-3 Preston 18/8/09 Match Report

Barnsley 1-0 Preston 3/11/07 Match Report

Barnsley 0-1 Preston 13/1/07 Match Report

Preston 1-0 Barnsley 22/9/06 Match Report

Last Six Preston v Barnsley results:

18/8/09 Barnsley 0-3 Preston (Championship)

28/12/08 Barnsley 1-1 Preston (Championship)

22/11/08 Preston 2-1 Barnsley (Championship)

12/4/08 Preston 1-2 Barnsley (Championship)

3/11/07 Barnsley 1-0 Preston (Championship)

13/1/07 Barnsley 0-1 Preston (Championship)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 15

Preston Wins: 21

Draws: 11

Barnsley Goals: 56

Preston Goals: 86

At Deepdale:

Preston Wins: 14

Barnsley Wins: 4

Draws: 6

Preston Goals: 60

Barnsley Goals: 24

This Season

Quite a few things have changed since this game was originally meant to be played. On Boxing Day Preston were under the guidance of Scotsman Alan Irvine, were on a run of one win in 10 matches and were just two points above The Reds. A 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United two days later saw the end of Irvine’s reign and former Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson was appointed. And whilst Irvine went on to take three points off The Reds with Sheffield Wednesday, Ferguson has helped turn around Preston’s fortunes. His first game in charge was a 4-2 defeat at Bristol City and then they were defeated 2-0 in the FA Cup by Chelsea, but Fergie Jnr has gone on to mastermind back to back wins- 2-0 over Peterborough and Ipswich, to move the Lancashire side into the top half of the table. They have also recruited young Manchester United hotshot Danny Welbeck on loan, who scored for United in their Carling Cup win at Oakwell in October.

Preston are the ultimate play-off bottlers. They have featured in an end of season lottery seven times- including three of the last five Championship ones, and are yet to win in them, reaching the final on three occasions. Another play-off push looks decidedly dodgy but their recent mini revival has left them just six points off the top six and they have lost just twice at home this season- only Newcastle, undefeated at home have lost less home games.

Back on Boxing Day, Barnsley were searching for their eighth successive unbeaten game, now they are looking to arrest a slump that has seen them lose four of their five matches in 2010. Despite this, they could go 11th with victory, whilst a win back on Boxing Day would only have taken them to 14th. The Reds though haven’t won on the road since they ended Preston’s arch rivals Blackpool’s undefeated home record in early December.

Record for 2nd February:

Preston have won just six of their 16 matches on the 2nd February and have lost the five. Their most recent encounter on this date was 1-0 defeat at Norwich in 2008. Their last win on the 2nd February was a 5-1 thumping of Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup in 1960.

Barnsley also have a pretty dismal record on this date having won just four of their 12 matches and haven’t won any of the last three. Their last game was a 4-0 thumping at Coventry in 2008 and the last win was 1-0 at Wolves in 1985. The most remarkable game on this date came back in 2002 when The Reds travelled to Portsmouth. They were 4-2 down at Fratton Park before goals in the final seven minutes from Chris Lumsdon and Mike Sheron secured a 4-4 draw. It extended The Reds unbeaten run at that time to 11 matches but they were still relegated to the Second Division at the end of that season.

Overall playing record for 2nd February:

Preston: Played 16, Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 8, Scored 28, Conceded 21

Barnsley: Played 12, Won 4, Drawn 3, Lost 5, Scored 14, Conceded 19

Last six 2009-2010 Results

Preston:

30/1/10 Preston 2-0 Ipswich (Championship)

26/1/10 Peterborough 0-1 Preston (Championship)

23/1/10 Preston 0-2 Chelsea (FA Cup)

16/1/10 Bristol City 4-2 Preston (Championship)

2/1/10 Preston 7-0 Colchester (FA Cup)

28/12/09 Sheffield United 1-0 Preston (Championship)

W: 3 D: 0 L: 3 F: 12 A: 7 GD: 5 Points: 6

Barnsley:

30/1/10 Reading 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

26/1/10 Barnsley 1-0 Leicester (Championship)

16/1/10 Barnsley 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship)

9/1/10 Coventry 3-1 Barnsley (Championship)

2/1/10 Scunthorpe 1-0 Barnsley (FA Cup)

28/12/09 Barnsley 2-1 Middlesbrough (Championship)

W: 2 D: 0 L: 4 F: 5 A: 9 GD: -4 Points: 6

Preston lie in 11th place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 35 points from 26 games.

Barnsley lie in 15th place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 33 points from 27 games

Palace could go as high as 9th with victory whilst Barnsley could go as high as 11th.

Mad Sites:

www.prestonnorthend-mad.co.uk

www.barnsley-mad.co.uk

Official Sites:

www.pnefc.net

www.barnsleyfc.co.uk

Other Fixtures:

Watford v Sheff Utd, 19:45


Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Blackpool v West Brom, 19:45