Cardiff City v Preston North End team news: Emil Riis and Greg Cunningham start for the Lilywhites

Emil Riis and Greg Cunningham returned to the side, with Scott Sinclair and Tom Barkhuizen dropping to the bench.

For Cunningham it meant he was facing the side who he left in January to re-sign for PNE, briefly on loan and then in a permanent deal.

The Irishman had been left on the bench for the midweek defeat to Watford despite having scored in the previous game at Blackburn.

Riis came in to partner Ched Evans up front as Neil opted for a 3-5-2 system - the one used when beating Blackburn a week last Friday.

Cunningham and Alan Browne were set to play as wing-backs, with Andrew Hughes joining Liam Lindsay and Jordan Storey in a three-man defence.

Cardiff: Phillips, Morrison, Flint, Nelson, Ng, Vaulks, Pack, Wilson, Bennett, Murphy, Moore. Subs: Brown, Bagan, Sang. Bacuna, Williams, Harris, Ojo, Watters, Smithies.

PNE: Iversen, Storey. Lindsay, Hughes, Browne, Whiteman, Molumby, Cunningham, Johnson, Riis, Evans. Subs: Rafferty, Huntington, van den Berg, Gallagher, Potts. Gordon, Sinclair, Barkhuizen, Ripley.

Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Carnforth)

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here