Preston North End

Image source, Rex Features

Preston North End will be without Mads Frokjaer for their crucial home game against fellow strugglers Plymouth on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The midfielder injured his hamstring during Monday's 2-1 defeat by Hull City.

Frokjaer joins midfielders Ali McCann and Brad Potts, as well as goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, on the sidelines.

Preston have won just one of their past 13 league games, a run which has left them only three points clear of the relegation zone but boss Paul Heckingbottom believes his side have the fight to steer clear of trouble.

"I wouldn't question their application or attitude," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I can't have people criticise the players when they are working as hard as ever - the lads have been let down by other factors."

After Saturday's meeting with Plymouth, Preston finish their campaign at Bristol City.

Both these sides still have work to do to secure their Championship status.

Plymouth will start Saturday's game (15:00 BST) three points short of safety, while Preston's six-match winless run means they are only three points clear of trouble.

• Preston are unbeaten across their past six league games against Plymouth (W3 D3), since a 1-0 away loss in October 2008.

• Plymouth are winless in their past seven away league games against Preston (D3 L4), since a 1-0 win in November 1997.

• Preston have won just one of their past 13 league games (D6 L6), losing the past three in a row. They last lost more consecutively between April and August last year (seven).

• Plymouth have alternated between victory (three) and defeat (two) in their past five league games, beating Norwich last time out. However, both losses in that run have come away from home, while all three victories have come at home.

Preston North End assistant manager Stuart McCall says they should never have been in a Championship relegation battle but have "no one to blame but ourselves".

The Lilywhites have won just one of their past 13 games (D6 L6) and are now only three points above the drop zone with two matches remaining.

"We should no way be anywhere near the position we are, but our poor results in the last 13 games have put us where we are," McCall told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"The run recently has been disappointing. Poor really, there is no getting away from it.

"We've got to go out there and make sure that we put in a performance against Plymouth which gets us the result that we need to stay in the division.

"It sounds a crazy thing to say, but that's the reality."

McCall said Preston have "lost too many points in positions where we've been ahead" and the players now need to "stand up and be counted".

Paul Heckingbottom's side have led in six of their last eight games, but the only time they have managed to convert that into three points was against Portsmouth at Deepdale on 15 March.

"So there should be criticism flying around," he added.

"It's not where we want to be, it's not where anybody wants to be. Any criticism coming our way is totally deserved and merited.

"After the QPR game we talked about mentality and desire. That's something we're going to have to look at.

"The stats are there. To be ahead in six games and not take a victory out of it - there is something not quite right."

Preston's remaining fixtures:

• 26 April: Plymouth Argyle (H)

• 3 May: Bristol City (A)

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Preston North End assistant manager Stuart McCall says that the controversial award of the first of two penalties in the defeat at Hull City changed the momentum of the game.

Leading by Lewis Gibson's first-half strike, McCall argued that the penalty should have not been given.

Joe Gelhardt equalised and then scored a second spot-kick to take all three points for the Tigers.

The loss leaves North End looking over their shoulders, in 18th place but only three points clear of relegation with two games to go.

The Lancashire club are also on a poor run of form, having taken only two points from their last six matches.

"The performance was OK to a point in that we controlled parts of the game and got a goal," McCall told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I'm not biased, I'll be honest when I see things, I spoke to (Hull defender) John Egan before the game today and they got a penalty given against them on Friday that was scandalous when the ball hit his face.

"Today we have had one given against us that is nowhere near a penalty kick.

"I think he gets the second one right but the big decision is the first one because it gave them the momentum."

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom said "change" is needed at the club following his side's last minute loss to Queen's Park Rangers.

Lilywhites defender Liam Lindsay opened the scoring just before half-time but the Rs scored twice in the last 13 minutes of the game, with Lucas Andersen netting the winner deep in stoppage time.

After the loss, Heckingbottom revealed he had spoken to Peter Ridsdale, a member of Preston's board.

"You can't park (the disappointment)," said Heckingbottom. "You can't forget it. That's got to be what drives you and makes sure you make the changes.

"I've just been having a conversation with Peter. I don't need to wait until tomorrow to calm down. Why would I want to do that?

"It's obvious what needs to happen. Change or be changed. That's it. How much is possible won't be determined by me.

"That's what I'd do but I don't think I'll be able to do that, so it's going to be hard work."

Both these sides should, in theory, have a relatively stress-free end to the season with Queens Park Rangers sitting on the magical 50-points mark and Preston just one point off it.

The two sides meet at Deepdale on Friday (15:00 BST) having both taken six points from their past six games.

• Preston have lost each of their past two home league games against QPR, one more than in their previous 16 games (W8 D7).

• QPR have won five of their past seven league games against Preston (L2), including each of their previous three encounters with the Lilywhites.

• Preston are unbeaten in their past eight home league games on Good Friday (W4 D4), beating Rotherham 3-0 at Deepdale last season.

• Since a 1-0 win at Watford in the top flight in April 1988, QPR are winless in their last four away league games on Good Friday (D2 L2).

• Only Coventry City (22) have scored more Championship goals from crosses this season than QPR (14), with three of their past six league goals coming via crosses.

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Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom was pleased with his side's application in their 2-1 defeat at Championship leaders Leeds.

"I'm really disappointed with the two goals we conceded, I thought they were poor on our part," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We were brave with how we passed the ball and tried to take the game to them, I was really pleased with that.

"We knew if we could keep one goal in it then we'd get opportunities but they defended their box well and we couldn't open them up.

"Overall I'm delighted with the effort and commitment of the players but Leeds had the better chances."

This fixture goes back to the 1924-25 season when Leeds won both matches in the old First Division, scoring four goals in each game.

Preston are looking for a first league victory at Elland Road since 2010 when they came from 4-2 down at half-time to win 6-4.

• Leeds have lost just one of their past seven league games against Preston, (W3 D3), a 2-1 defeat at Deepdale in December 2023.

• Preston have won just one of their past 12 away league games against Leeds since 1963 (D4 L7).

• Leeds have scored 80 goals in the Championship this season, just one short of their competition record (since 2004-05) of 81 in 2010-11 and 2023-24. They last scored more than 81 in a league campaign in 1969-70 (84).

• Preston have won just one of their past 10 league matches (D6 L3), beating Portsmouth 2-1 in March. The Lilywhites have lost three of their past four away games in the Championship (D1).

• Leeds' Dan James has 12 league goals this season, one below his record in a single campaign of 13 last season. James could score in three successive league appearances for the third time in his career – the last time he achieved this (January 2024), the third game was against Preston at Elland Road.

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Preston North End will use the summer to refresh and improve their squad, says boss Paul Heckingbottom.

With loan players returning to their parent clubs and others coming to the end of their contracts, Heckingbottom believes there is an opportunity for him to stamp his mark on the squad at Deepdale.

He said there could be as many as a dozen squad places to fill but added "one or two" of the out-of-contract players "could be staying".

North End have four loan players set to leave at the end of the Championship season while six senior players, including goalkeeper Freddie Woodman and second top-scorer Emil Riis, will be out of contract.

"There's the potential to, definitely," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire when asked about a summer overhaul.

"Your loans are going to go automatically and there will be one or two who leave as well.

"So if we play it right, it's a big opportunity to refresh the squad, improve the squad and just change the dynamic of it."

Preston are 16th in the table, seven points clear of the relegation zone with five games to go, and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup where they lost 3-0 at home to Aston Villa.

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Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom was satisfied with his team's performance in the 2-2 draw against Cardiff City at Deepdale.

Yakou Meite's 94th-minute leveller snatched a point for the Bluebirds, meaning North End have now drawn 19 times this season - more than any other side in the Championship.

"I feel a lot different in terms of performance to what we did at the weekend," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"You get punished when you switch off. I did feel comfortable in us seeing the game out.

"We switched off, left him in, it's an error, but we did more than enough at the other end, so we can't just look at that one error.

"I'd take that performance. That's how we need to play - be more clinical and be more ruthless.

"I'd love to create that many chances every game but that's been the other criticism in the other games where we have been dominant but not created enough chances for the dominance."

Cardiff City will eye a chance to escape the relegation zone when they visit Preston North End on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

The Bluebirds =find themselves undefeated across their past three league games, though it still sees them in the bottom three, level on points with Derby just above them but crucially under the line due to goal difference.

A win against midtable Preston could be enough to see them into safety, with Stoke City also within catching distance.

• Preston have won both of their last two league meetings with Cardiff, last winning more in a row over the Bluebirds in January 2000 (4).

• Since the start of 2020, Cardiff have won four of their five league visits to Preston (L1), winning this exact fixture last season 2-1.

• Preston are unbeaten in their last 25 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games played at home (W11 D14) since a 0-1 defeat to Watford back in February 2021.

• Cardiff have only won one of their last 11 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D3 L7), a 1-0 victory over Hull in February.

• Preston's Paul Heckingbottom has won each of his last five league games against Cardiff City since a 0-1 defeat with Barnsley in November 2017.

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom said his side didn't "deserve" to beat Stoke on Saturday.

The Lilywhites were denied all three points after full-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden's opener was cancelled out by Stoke's Lewis Baker from the penalty spot in the second half.

"You take the point in the end. I don't think it's a penalty, [it was] really soft so disappointed we haven't got three but I don't think the performance deserved three so we'll take the point and move on," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Start of the second half they got on top. I felt they won all the duels and we're going to face teams that are fighting to stay in the league.

"Cardiff, Plymouth, Hull away that's what we're going to face so really disappointed with that spell of the game and we weren't good enough to take the sting out of it."

Stoke City make the trip to Deepdale on Saturday (15:00 BST) as they look to increase the distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

The Potters are only two points above 22nd placed Cardiff City but have won two of their past three league games to sit in 18th place.

They now face a Preston side firmly in the midtable, seven points clear of relegation but 10 away from the play-offs.

Will having more on the line spur Stoke to a win or will North End make good on their hopes to end the season strong?

• The previous league meeting this season between Preston and Stoke ended 0-0 – the last time both games between the teams in the same season were drawn was back in 1928-29.

• Stoke City have won three of their last four away league matches against Preston (D1), including each of the last two.

• Preston have gone 12 home league games without defeat (W4 D8), their best unbeaten run at Deepdale since a run of 15 between December 2014 and August 2015.

• Stoke City have lost their last four away Championship matches – they haven't lost five away league games in a row since losing six consecutively between January and March 2013 in the top-flight.

• Stoke manager Mark Robins is winless in his last 12 league meetings against Preston North End (D4 L8) since beating them 2-0 with Barnsley back in February 2011.

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom says he is expecting a "totally different proposition" from next opponents Stoke City as opposed to Derby County, who they lost to on Tuesday.

"I looked at the team at the weekend and a lot of big players for them were back. Then, watching the game, I got a good idea of what Mark [Robins] is trying to do there.

"[Stoke] will come at us more with the ball in different ways. We will have to defend well, better than [against Derby], but in different parts of the game."

Saturday's match against Stoke will be their third since Sunday, having lost their FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa before the defeat by the Rams.

However, Heckingbottom is hoping that third time's a charm when it comes to earning a victory.

"It's always in the back of your mind when you schedule changes because of the cup competition, it's always in the back of your mind that it costs you players," he added.

"We tried to mitigate against that and we prepared and I think we've done well. We've got those freaky silly injuries, ankles, ribs, things like that which we could have done without.

"We will make changes again for the weekend. These are games that we are wanting win and pick up points in."

Image source, Rex Features

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom says a poor start to the second half led to his side's downfall after a disappointing 2-0 loss to relegation battlers Derby County.

The Lilywhites started the game the better but were only able to muster one shot on target, while the Rams came out of the blocks in the second to gain a two goal advantage in the space of four minutes.

"The second half was a totally different game and as if we'd not prepared for the team we were playing against.

"It's horrible getting beaten but the frustration is how much I felt we were in control and dealing with their threats.

"In the second half all of a sudden we're not winning the duels, leaving men at set-plays and then we walk away from a second phase throw put in our box and all of a sudden we're outnumbered and one of their best headers is left free.

"That 10-minute spell just took the game away from us."

Preston suffered five consecutive losses to conclude last season, finishing 10th overall and currently find themselves in 14th.