After two crushing defeats, the season hasn’t started in the way manager Darren Ferguson will have anticipated. After a home defeat on the opening day of the season to Doncaster that was quickly followed by a drubbing away at Swansea last weekend.
The visit of Pompey will not petrify the Lilywhites, the South Coast side lie in 21st position in the Championship. Some cynics may earmark this fixture as a relegation six pointer; however both teams are experiencing early season teething problems. For Preston this may be an ideal opportunity to pile more misery on Portsmouth as Steve Cotterill’s side continues to battle with financial troubles.
The former Premier League side bring back a Preston North End favourite in David Nugent. The striker earned an England call up in 2007 against Andorra due to his Preston form. After a couple of loan spells at Burnley last season, he is now back in the Portsmouth fold and will no doubt play an integral part in their season.
White’s defender Sean St Ledger is back and fit for the big game tomorrow, the centre-back had missed the start of the season due to a hamstring injury. Preston manager Darren Ferguson has been impressed with St Ledger’s work in training, ‘Sean has had a good week’s training and he’ll be involved on Saturday’. Meanwhile, Wayne Brown is still out with a hip injury and midfielder Barry Nicholson is again absent with a double leg fracture.
Portsmouth will be sweating over the fitness of influential midfielder John Utaka, who picked up a hamstring injury against Reading last week. Hayden Mullins is also a doubt for Cotterill’s men with a knee injury, though he is likely to start.
This is a game that both sides will feel they can win. For Preston a victory really is a must after two defeats in their first two games. Darren Ferguson has talked about doing the right things, but first and foremost the Whites need a win. The rest will follow.
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