Brighton cup tie will be another opportunity for Preston North End squad to show their strength says Alex Neil

The Lilywhites welcome Brighton to Deepdale this evening (7pm) in the third round of the competition.

Neil flipped the squad over for last week’s second-round victory at Derby, making 10 changes.

He could well do something similar against the Seagulls as he looks to keep some players fresh for league action against Stoke on Saturday.

Equally, Neil is keen to keep the whole squad involved and get them game time.

Neil said: “I’m not sure how much I will freshen it up but some of the other lads will have an opportunity to play.

“It is important to use these lads. We went to Derby last week and a lot of them played particularly well.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them play again and I hope they show me what they are capable of.”

Among those set to feature is Jayden Stockley.

The striker had been due to start at Norwich but had to pull out of the squad as a family member was awaiting a Covid-19 test.

That has since come back negative, allowing Stockley to resume action.

Jordan Storey, Brad Potts, Tom Bayliss and Paul Gallagher are others likely to get the nod from Neil.

He will be without Paul Huntington, the defender serving a one-match ban for two yellow cards in the competition.

Daniel Johnson, scorer of the winner at Derby, is another absentee.

The midfielder suffered a minor tear of a groin muscle in training last Friday.

Johnson continues to be linked with a switch to Rangers but they have yet to follow up their initial enquiry earlier in the month. On 
that occasion they offered just £1.5m, paid in four instalments.

It could be that Rangers are waiting until later in the window to try and push a deal through – the window shuts for them on October 5.

The Carabao Cup fourth-round draw has already been made, with Manchester United playing tonight’s winners.

Not that Neil is looking too far ahead.

“We will play this one and see how we do,” he said.

“Then it’s back to playing in the Championship on Saturday.”

Tonight’s game will be the 14th North End have played behind closed doors since June’s restart.

Yesterday’s announcement by the Prime Minister of new measures to tackle Covid-19 makes it likely that empty grounds will be the norm for another six months.

It came as a huge blow to football, with obvious financial consequences.