Paul Gallagher set to join Preston North End's 300 club

Gallagher made his 299th appearance for PNE in all competitions when he came on as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Swansea on Saturday.

With Alex Neil set to make a number of changes to the side at Derby, the 36-year-old midfielder is expected to start against the Rams.

“If selected it would be a good milestone for me, something to be very proud of,” said Gallagher.

“To play a high number of games for the club is something I have always wanted to do. That has kept me going and driven me on to want to continue playing.

“Not too many players have played 300 games for Preston, there are some illustrious names in there.

“When I came back on loan in 2013 if someone had said to me that I would still be here in 2020 making my 300th appearance, would I have believed them?

“Not often these days do players stay at clubs long enough to make this amount of appearances.

“The first time I came on loan in 2007, I didn’t do myself justice and I’ve always said that.

“I felt I had a point to prove when I returned in 2013 and I think I’ve made people look differently at me than in 2007.

“In 2013 I came back a man, more mature and more understanding of what was needed in a game of football.”

For Gallagher to finish on the winning side on such a landmark night, will need PNE to overturn a torrid run of results against Derby.

They have failed to win any of the last 14 meetings with the Rams, a run going back to December 2008.

“I hoped you wouldn’t mention that run,” said Gallagher.

“It’s not been great but all you can do is focus on the next game rather than worrying about what has happened before.

“We want to try and get into the next round and a win would help us build some momentum ready for the league games.

“I watched Derby’s game against Barrow in the last round, I thought Barrow did really well to take them to penalties.

“This is a game in which we will be looking to bounce back after the Swansea defeat.

“Ideally you don’t want to play someone from your own division in a cup game but that’s the way draw happened and we have to get on with it.”

If Neil follows the pattern of previous seasons, he will make wholesale changes for the visit to Derby in order to use the full depth of the North End squad.

It will be important to get game time into the legs of the whole squad with the fixture list for this season being a compacted one due to the later start of the campaign.

Should PNE beat Derby, they will be back in cup action next week against either Brighton or Portsmouth at Deepdale.

That potentially quick turnaround shows how games are having to be squeezed in this season.

Said Gallagher: “We have got a strong squad here, two players for every position when you look at it.

“This season that squad is going to be used in full, there’s a lot of Saturday/Tuesday football when changes need to be made.

“After Saturday’s game, everyone was disappointed.

“It was a tough start against a side who made the play-offs last season but I thought it was an even game.

“We probably deserved something out of it and we were disappointed we didn’t take any of the chances that came our way.

“Things can change quickly in football and one win can bring with it a lot of confidence and belief.

“Last season we lost our first game at Millwall and then went on a great run which gave us the opportunity to go top of the league in November.”

North End’s first few days of the season are happening with a backdrop of speculation about the futures of key players.

Daniel Johnson watched the Swansea game from the stand as interest bubbled from Rangers in him.

Whether he will be back in the squad at Pride Park, is something only the teamsheet will confirm.

Ben Davies is reportedly attracting the attention of Bournemouth, a team back in the Championship after a five-season stay in the Premier League.

Then there is Alan Browne and Ben Pearson who are both out of contract next summer.

Gallagher said: “You find that speculation happens at every club. If you have good football players they will attract interest, that’s the way things go.

“We want to achieve things here, do better than last season and make the play-offs. We have an honest bunch of lads.”