Preston North End vs Charlton Athletic: Who is the referee for Championship clash at Deepdale?

Preston North End vs Charlton Athletic will be overseen by referee James Linington.

The Isle of Wight based official takes charge of his third match of the campaign. He was the man in the middle for League One contests Barnsley vs Port Vale and, prior to that, Plymouth vs Peterborough.

Linington is a vastly experienced official though, having racked up almost 500 matches in the EFL. His first came all the way back in October 2008. Linington will be assisted by James Wilson and Conor Brown, with Scott Oldham the fourth official.

He has shown eight yellow cards in his two fixtures to date. Last season, Linington took charge of 24 games, showing 94 yellow cards and one red. Two of those 24 fixtures were North End’s.

Linington oversaw the Lilywhites 2-0 win at Cardiff City in December, as well as the dramatic final day 2-2 draw at Bristol City. Saturday is his first Charlton match since January 2021.

Both PNE and the Addicks head into the game on the back of draws away from home in midweek. North End chucked a two-goal lead at Hull City away, while Charlton were pegged back to one apiece at Derby County.

Preston head into the game on the back of late refereeing controversy at the MKM Stadium. Having seen the Tigers claw their way back to draw level, PNE defender Jordan Storey had a late penalty appeal waved away by referee Josh Smith.

Post-match, manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “Well, everyone's telling me we should have, even the fourth (official), their players as well. But I think we've got different criteria when we've got Josh as referee for us to be awarded a penalty.

“That's how it seems, if what everyone's telling me is correct. I'm a long way away; I'm going off what everyone's told me afterwards.”

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