Preston North End to face Hearts at Deepdale in a pre-season friendly

Hearts will make the trip south on Wednesday, July 20, with the game having a 7.45pm kick-off.

It is the third pre-season fixture announced by PNE, with them playing the traditional curtain raiser at Bamber Bridge on Saturday July 2, before facing Accrington Stanley on July 16.

This will be the third time North End and Hearts have faced one another in friendly action.

They met in July 2006 at Deepdale, Hearts winning 2-1 on that occasion. Then in July 2015, North End beat the Jam Tarts 1-0 thanks a Joe Garner goal.

Hearts’ sporting director is Joe Savage who was previously PNE’s head of recruitment under Alex Neil, while former North End head coach Frankie McAvoy is now director of Hearts’ academy.

A familiar face on the pitch will be Josh Ginnelly, the winger having initially joined Hearts from the Lilywhites on loan in September 2020 before making the move permanent last summer.

Hearts finished third in the Scottish Premiership in the 2021/22 season and reached the Scottish FA Cup final where they lost to Rangers after extra time.

North End will announce further pre-season friendlies in due course.

One of those is set to take place during their Spanish training camp, with Ryan Lowe taking his players to Alicante on July 8 for a six-day stay.

That friendly will be against a Spanish side, with it played at PNE’s training base.

There is the weekend of July 23/24 available in the schedule for another friendly, most likely at Deepdale.

When PNE found Hearts too hot to handle in July 2006