Preston North End’s toughest test yet may be in store as Alex Neil sets out Stoke City aim

Stoke City hasn’t been an intimidating away venue for some time now, but former Preston North End boss Alex Neil is taking decent strides towards changing that.

The Lilywhites head to the Potteries this weekend with confidence high, having collected 10 points from their first four Championship fixtures. Last weekend’s comeback win against Swansea City left PNE as one of five teams to remain undefeated in the league. It’s three Championship wins on the spin for Ryan Lowe’s men, who are feeling pretty good about their football right now; a shift in tactical approach working well for North End thus far.

But, it is still such early days and this weekend’s trip to Stoke will see PNE reach the first international break checkpoint of the campaign. In the five away visits to Stoke, since their relegation from the Premier League, Preston have won four games and drawn one. Going to Stoke on a cold Tuesday night has not been the assignment it was once perceived to be. This season, though, there are signs of Stoke turning a real corner for the first time in the second tier.

Neil is looking to succeed where Michael O’Neill, Nathan Jones, Gary Rowett and co could not. The Scot has overseen a huge overhaul at the bet365 Stadium this summer, with 14 new recruits and counting brought in. Familiar faces Daniel Johnson and Ben Pearson are on board, while Stoke have shopped domestically and overseas for experience, creativity and cutting edge. Ryan Mmaee, Andre Vidigal and Wouter Burger are all off the mark.

There has been plenty of shake up behind the scenes too, with Stoke prising Paul Gallagher away from Preston and adding him to Neil’s coaching team. Head of Recruitment, Jared Dublin, has had a non-stop few months since his appointment in June. As Potters reporter for Stoke-on-Trent Live, Pete Smith, shares, the impact is already being seen.

“Neil has, basically in one summer, been able to build a whole squad equipped to play how he wants; high tempo, on the front foot, aggressive, with some skilful creative players in the right areas,” said Smith. “It’s been just the ticket at home - night and day from last season. We’ve never seen a summer like it: a complete reset. It is worth noting that Rotherham were particularly poor, twice, but that was still a problem for Stoke last year. He’s used 4-3-3, 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 in the four home games so far. It’ll probably be a back four as plan A.”

Stoke have come up short away from home on both occasions - losing at Millwall and Ipswich Town - but they have won all four matches on home soil, scoring 13 goals and conceding three. Potent forward pair Vidigal and Mmaee will both need to be assessed ahead of Saturday, but PNE must be fully prepared for the attacking threats and flexibility posed by Saturday’s hosts. Needless to say that Neil, having lost to Preston last January, is looking to get one over on his old side.

“We want to go and win the game,” said the Stoke boss. “Preston have started the season really well; we’ve been in really good form at home. We want to take that kind of performance and instil it into the game on Saturday. To get four wins on the bounce at home is vitally important. We spoke about that last year, because our fans want to come in their droves, be entertained and watch their team play well.

“I think we have done that at home so far. We’ve made huge amounts of signings and I think, to contend with everything we’ve done and be in as good a moment as we are at the moment, speaks volumes of the work. We still know we can improve certain aspects of our game, but I think we’re really pleased with what we’ve done so far.”