Alex Neil takes Stoke City to play his former club Preston North End with the opportunity to move ahead of Saturday's hosts in the Championship standings.

Nevertheless, as it stands, nine places separate the teams in the table, with Preston having a second chance this week to move into the playoff spots.

Match preview

The pre-match ramblings will be dominated by the return to Deepdale of Neil, but Preston's current boss Ryan Lowe will instead prefer to focus on his own side.

Wins over West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City put Preston into a position where they could have progressed into fifth spot in the table when they played Bristol City earlier this week.

The North West outfit ultimately succumbed to a 2-1 defeat, conceding the decisive goal in the final minute, but Preston are a team that feel very much on the up under Lowe.

With the margins in the Championship being as small as they have ever been, there is an opportunity for Preston to do more than simply remain in contention for a surprise spot in the playoffs.

Their next four fixtures are against teams all down in the bottom half of the table, and the results over this period could define their ambitions for the remainder of 2022-23.

On the same day that Preston were recording a surprise success at Norwich, Stoke were doing the same against the other of the top-two teams in the division.

After three matches without a win, the Potters recorded a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United, a result which was desperately required as they began to flirt with the bottom three.

While Neil is still to convince at the bet365 Stadium, the Scot now has nine points from seven matches, while Stoke are within touching distance of catapulting themselves into the top half of the table.

The Staffordshire outfit must find some consistency, however, with consecutive victories in the Championship not being recorded all season.

Still, they travel to Preston having put together a three-match unbeaten streak on their travels, a run which includes draws at in-form Queens Park Rangers and Burnley.

Team News

Jordan Storey is likely to return to the Preston XI after serving a one-match suspension earlier this week.

Greg Cunningham could be the player to drop out, while further changes are expected with Robbie Brady potentially reverting to a central creative role and Alan Browne being used at right wing-back.

Forward Troy Parrott has been ruled out until December with a hamstring injury.

Liam Delap may be restored to the Stoke starting lineup after scoring as a substitute against Sheffield United last week.

Dwight Gayle could drop down to the bench, and that may prove to be the only alteration should Stoke not be contending with any further injury issues.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Browne, McCann, Whiteman, Fernandez; Brady; Maguire, Riis Jakobsen

Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bursik; Sterling, Jagielka, Wilmot, Fox; Laurent, Smallbone, Baker; Campbell, Delap, Fosu-Henry

We say: Preston North End 1-1 Stoke City

Even though there have been goals aplenty in Preston's last two fixtures, that does not stop us from feeling that this may not be the most entertaining of affairs. With that in mind, we can only predict a low-scoring draw, a result which would not necessarily suit either side.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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