Revenge is on the mind for PNE

The Lilywhites have won the last four games at Deepdale, a run which will be put to the test by a Magpies outfit which beat them 6-0 in the League Cup on Tuesday night.

That midweek hammering is a result PNE boss Grayson wants to put right as he looks to keep the Championship form on an even keel.

His side are unbeaten in six league games, a run which has taken them up to ninth place in the division.

Grayson said: “We have won four games on the trot at home, conceding one goal – we have been very effective.

“We found it tough going to St James’ Park the other night, a lot of teams will experience that this season.

“Tomorrow is a different games, we are at home and it will be a fantastic atmosphere.

“There will be fire in the belly at 3pm tomorrow and this is one to look forward to.

“When you look back to the last two home games against Aston Villa and Huddersfield, we started well in both.

“We got among it, stopped them from playing, with us working well as individuals and as a team collectively.

“That led us to the victories which we achieved.

“Before that, we did really well in the Wigan and Cardiff games here.

“To be ninth in the division at the moment is pleasing.

“We didn’t get carried away after winning at Norwich last week which took us ninth.

“By the same token we have not got despondent about what happened at Newcastle on Tuesday night – disappointed yes, but not despondent.”

Grayson made nine changes for the visit to Tyneside and will revert back to a more tried and tested set-up tomorrow.

In midweek, Ben Pearson and Greg Cunningham were left out of the squad and so should return fully refreshed.

Alex Baptiste was cup-tied, Jordan Hugill, Callum Robinson and Chris Maxwell were unused subs, while Tom Clarke and Paul Gallagher came on in the second half.

Midfielder Alan Browne starts a three-game ban after his red card at Newcastle.

“The reason we made changes the other night was to keep a few of the lads fresh,” said Grayson.

“People will question the changes we made but a lot of the players who came in had played a lot of football.

“We went with that decision, it was something which the people above at the football club understood and agreed was the right thing to do.

“But on the night we didn’t do our jobs properly.

“People who were out of the team will now come back into the equation freshened up.

“Newcastle could well make changes too because they had some top players sat on the bench and in the stand.

“Do they bring players back and replace ones who scored on Tuesday night?”

PNE will have their biggest attendance of the season so far tomorrow, beating the 17,696 for Villa’s visit on October 1.