Preston North End v Derby County likely line-ups, key men, odds, the referee and all you need to know ahead of Championship clash

From likely line-ups to key men and the referee all you need to know about the Championship clash can be found below.

Likely line-ups

PNE: Rudd, Fisher, Storey, Davies, Hughes, Pearson, Gallagher, Potts, Browne, Maguire, Stockley.

Derby: Roos, Malone, Keogh, Tomori, Cole, Evans, Holmes, Wilson, Lawrence, Waghorn, Nugent.

Key Men

Alan Browne: Last year’s player of the year continues to go from strength to strength. His neat footwork and fine finish at Stoke took him to 10 goals for the season . The Irishman is also the leader of Alex Neil’s high press which is likely to be in operation again.

Harry Wilson: The 21-year-old Liverpool loanee is being tipped to join Mo Salah and others at the top table at Anfield having scored 12 goals so far this season for the Rams. Another loan star, Chelsea’s Mason Mount, is set to miss out through injury.

In the visiting dugout

Frank Lampard: The 106-cap England international landed the Derby post last May, this his first step into the world of management. The bulk of his 900 club appearances as a player came at Chelsea where he won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup four times and the Champions League. Lampard started his career at West Ham before an £11m move took him to Chelsea where he stayed until 2014. The midfielder then joined Manchester City before finishing his playing days with New York City.

Odds

PNE: 29/20

Draw: 12/5

Derby: 11/5

The referee

Darren Bond: The Wigan official will be in change of Preston North End’s clash with Derby County. It is his second visit to Deepdale this season – he was in the middle for September’s 3-2 defeat to Reading. Last term, Mr Bond refereed three North End games – the 2-0 win at Sunderland, their 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate and the goalless draw with Millwall. He has refereed 23 games this season, the latest being Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Hull on January 19.

This week in PNE history

61 years ago: On February 1, 1958, PNE beat Birmingham 8-0 at Deepdale in a First Division clash. Tommy Thompson and Sammy Taylor both netted hat-tricks, with Tom Finney scoring the other two goals.

55 years ago: Preston beat Newcastle 3-0 on February 1, 1964. Alex Dawson scored twice and Brian Godfrey found the net.

32 years ago: More than 5,000 Preston fans made the trip to Tyneside for their side’s FA Cup clash with First Division Newcastle on January 31, 1987. PNE put up a gallant show in a 2-0 defeat.

27 years ago: North End won 2-1 against Huddersfield at Leeds Road on February 1, 1992. Lee Cartwright and Graham Shaw were on target for the Lilywhites.