Preston North End are in action again as they host Sheffield Wednesday at Deepdale on Friday (December 29) night. The Lilywhites are in good spirits after defeating promotion-chasing Leeds United 2-1 on Boxing Day.
Alan Browne opened the scoring before Pascal Struijk's equaliser but Liam Millar in the final minute of regulation time gave PNE a valuable victory. It was a win that has kept them in the play-off picture and they are now just a point off of sixth-placed Sunderland.
Friday's opponents Wednesday suffered a different fate to PNE, and lost to Coventry City 2-0. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto scored in either half to give the Sky Blues the victory and to make matter worse for Wednesday, they were reduced to ten men in second-half stoppage time.
Former North End defender Bambo Diaby was given a red card, and as a result he will miss the next three games, and so he won't be afforded the opportunity to play against his former employers. Diaby was at North End for a season-and-a-half and left having made 25 appearances in that time frame, before joining Wednesday for an undisclosed fee last summer.
The two sides last met in August and North End won 1-0 at Hillsborough with Liam Lindsay scoring the only goal of the game. North End have a decent record against Wednesday, and have won four of their last five games against them with a 1-0 defeat in January 2021 being the last time that the Yorkshire men took points off of them.
Both sides have some injuries to attend to, but fortunately for PNE there were no fresh injury concerns against Leeds. Wednesday are still awaiting some of their players to come back, but it's not cut or dry whether they'll return on Friday. Here's the latest team news ahead of Preston North End v Sheffield Wednesday.
1. Emil Riis - out
A return at Christmas was suggested, but that's not the case now. The FA Cup tie with Chelsea looks a good time for him to return. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
2. Emil Riis - out (continued)
Ryan Lowe said on December 20: "He's all fine; medically fine. He's still got to tick a few boxes, but he's training well, smashing balls in, scoring goals and opening out a bit. His legs are tired after training, because he's doing extras and they are the boxes we've got to tick - so hopefully he's not too far. I think the next three games will maybe come too soon, because it's thick and fast and training will be limited. "In the new year, if we can get him some part - whether that's Sunderland or Chelsea or the one after that - then we will be pleased yeah." | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
3. John Buckley - out
On-loan Blackburn Rovers midfielder John Buckley was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle against QPR, and had to be substituted despite only coming on as one himself. He’s set to be out for the next few weeks at least after sustaining a shoulder injury. | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
4. John Buckley - out (contineud
Danny Rohl said on December 24: "John will be out for the next weeks, that’s for sure. He had an operation today (Thursday), and it doesn’t look good. I called him yesterday in the evening and wished him well, and now we’ll do everything for him to have a quick recovery. | Getty Images Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images