Preston North End

Preston North End will be boosted by the return of suspended captain Ben Whiteman and "more than likely" Harrison Armstrong from injury for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Whiteman sat out Tuesday's draw at Watford after collecting five yellow cards so far this season, while Armstrong has been missing for the past two matches with a slight groin issue.

North End head coach Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire: "Ben's been really consistent. He's played a lot of forward passes, which I've been banging on about for a long, long time.

"Without the ball, I think it's really evident that he's had a good pre-season because he's been getting about the pitch and defending the box, so he's been playing well. We want him to keep to those standards."

Heckingbottom is also delighted to have 18-year-old on-loan Everton midfielder Armstrong back in the fold.

"We know what he brings - a hell of a lot of energy and good quality on the ball," the Preston boss added.

"And we still think we can improve him between now and the end of the season as well - and he's determined to improve.

"They are two good additions because we were too short on the bench as well, so it's ideal for us."

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sport editor

Preston's result at Watford was a case of putting the point in the bag and heading back north relatively satisfied.

Everyone who was at the match will probably watch a better spectacle this season, but it is the sort of result that if you are serious about a play-off push, a point at Vicarage Road is certainly not the end of the world.

It is probably a point gained rather than two dropped.

North End's starting XI showed three changes. Jordan Thompson made his full debut, while Jamal Lewis and Daniel Jebbison returned to the team. Both Lewis and Jebbison are former Hornets loanees; it always makes sense to sling them in to see if it gets the desired effect.

Jebbison has already inflicted defeat on another of his former clubs, Sheffield United, this season with a winning goal and it could have been the same again. He produced the coolest of finishes after being played through by Lewis Dobbin to open the scoring. It was the perfect response to the boo boys in the home stands for the Canada international.

Following the opener, North End were the better side for a 15-minute spell and it looked like they might double the advantage on a couple of occasions.

Alfie Devine was a threat in the first half, popping up in some great positions. He fired over and Stefan Thordarson was not far away from his first of the season.

But, with a few minutes to go to the interval, they got loose in possession. The ball was turned over far too often and an equaliser on the stroke of half-time had been coming. A scruffy goal was conceded in stoppage time, a similar time to conceding to Blackburn Rovers on Friday.

Into the second half and skipper for the night Liam Lindsay brought the best from Hornets keeper Nathan Baxter as he tipped a header onto the post, but the majority of the questions were coming from the home side.

It is important to remember that Paul Heckingbottom's side had eight subs for the game, with two of them being goalkeepers.

Injuries to seven first-team players, as well as the club captain serving a one-match ban and the leading scorer being banned until after Christmas, would be a testing situation for pretty much all clubs at second-tier level.

Huge credit to the travelling fans for braving the 400-mile round trip on a Tuesday evening to cheer on their team. It was not a classic, but it was a really decent point against a team who had won four out of their previous five at home.

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has critiqued his side for not scoring more goals prior to Watford's equaliser in their 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

Both sides had an abundance of scoring opportunities throughout the match but only Preston's Daniel Jebbison and Watford's Mamadou Doumbia were able to find the net.

"That was a good away performance. This is a dangerous place to come with the talent they have and they are a lot more dangerous at home than away so we are really pleased with the performance," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"In spells we were very good with the ball. But we managed to defend our box well and always managed to carry a threat going the other way.

"We felt we could come and have the ball. They had the best chance on the counter. But then we became more of a threat in hurting them. Probably the disappointing thing was we were only 1-0 up when they got the equaliser.

"We could easily have nicked that. We could have been a couple of goals up when they got that equaliser."

Such is the volatile nature of the Championship 11th-placed Watford would overtake Preston, who are fifth, with a win on Tuesday night.

That may have seemed an unlikely scenario when Watford were 2-0 down at Derby on Saturday before scoring twice in the final five minutes to complete a 3-2 comeback win.

Preston are looking to avoid going three league games without a win for the first time this season.

• Watford lost this exact fixture 2-1 last season, last losing consecutive home league games against Preston in August 2005.

• Preston did the league double over Watford last season, having won just two of their previous 13 against the Hornets beforehand (D6 L5).

• Having lost their first four home league games in 2025, Watford have since lost three of their last 15 at Vicarage Road (W8 D4), winning four of their last five (D1).

• When they've not kept a clean sheet, Preston have won just one of their last 31 away league games (D9 L21), though that was a 2-1 victory at Watford in January last season.

• Watford's Imran Louza has been involved in seven goals in his last seven home league games (3 goals, 4 assists), as many as he had in his previous 34 appearances at Vicarage Road.

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has praised his side for getting "everything so right" to help them up to fifth on the table.

The Lilywhites did 2-1 lose to Blackburn Rovers on Friday for their fourth defeat of the season, however the 48-year-old has noticed a pattern across their losses.

"We've only lost four games but three of those have been from set plays," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire. "That's how important they are.

"The reason I'm really pleased with this group of players is that we have to get everything so right and that's what we've been doing."

Fourteen clubs have the potential to enter the weekend in the top six and while Heckingbottom believes the gap will begin to widen as the season progresses, he's not in a position to rule anyone out of the Championship promotion race.

Preston travel to Watford on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) with the Hornets 11th but just two points outside the top six.

"The amount of teams that will fancy their chances will be more than ever this season," Heckingbottom added.

"So many people thought X, Y, Z was going to happen and it just shows a big naivety, one about football, and about this league in particular.

"It's a good league for that reason and I think it's more competitive than ever."

Adam Cottier
BBC Final Score reporter

Paul Heckingbottom bemoaned his side's inability to get the finer details right as they slipped to only their fourth defeat in 16 Championship outings this season.

Losing to two set-piece goals is never a good look, and North End will reflect on them both with regret.

But the wider performance against Blackburn lacked energy and any sort of a consistent cutting edge. North End imposed themselves early and swiftly deteriorated. The second half almost passed them by.

Without the outstanding teenage talent of Everton loanee Harrison Armstrong and the industrious Ali McCann in midfield - two standouts in a sizeable list of absentees - Preston lacked the guile and control that has propelled them to where they are this season.

Heckingbottom has been able to put together a competitive team capable of putting an imprint on the top six; the optimism of the fans underlined by the sell-out home support.

But they can ill-afford the likes of McCann and Armstrong to be missing. They are critical players. McCann, who has been one of North End's most consistent performers in the four years he's been at the club, is sidelined by a broken arm. Armstrong has a muscle injury, the severity of it unclear.

They must now reset for a test at Watford on Tuesday. Preston remain in an outstanding position given they narrowly avoided relegation in May, but they clearly under-performed against their Lancashire neighbours.

Paul Heckingbottom says his Preston North End side were responsible for their defeat by Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.

The Lilywhites could have gone second in the Championship if they had taken the three points, but instead ended the evening fourth.

Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire: "Sometimes you come off having given your best and you're really pleased with how you played and you can hold your hands up but today, I think it was on us."

"The two stand out things are when you're on top and you miss your chances and then you give two set play goals away, you're going to have to do something special to win the game. So, yeah, disappointed with those two elements really."

North End are away to Watford on Tuesday evening before travelling to Sheffield Wednesday next Saturday for the final game of the month.

You can listen to more from Paul Heckingbottom on BBC Sounds.

If you're wondering where your team is going to finish in the Championship this season, you no longer need to worry.

Well, kind of.

Opta's supercomputer has worked its magic to figure out the most likely final league position of every team - and the chances each has of being promoted, making the play-offs or getting relegated.

Who is most likely to win automatic promotion?

It will come as no surprise that leaders Coventry are heavy favourites for the title (69.3%) and also have the highest chance of automatic promotion (84.2%) to the Premier League.

The next most likely to go straight up, with a 30.8% chance, are Middlesbrough. Despite currently sitting seventh and six points behind Boro in second, Ipswich are expected to be the third favourites for a top two finish (18.9%) followed by Stoke (14.1%).

Even though they've each enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Preston (10.3%), Hull (6.1%) and Millwall (8.3%) have slimmer chances of finishing in an automatic promotion spot.

Who will make the play-offs?

Image source, Rex Features

Even if Coventry don't win automatic promotion, Opta's supercomputer has given the Sky Blues a 97.9% chance of a top-six finish, suggesting it's almost guaranteed.

Each of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Preston and Stoke are expected to finish in a minimum of a play-off position at least one in two times.

Hull might feel the hardest done by as they sit fifth currently, but are said to have less chance (32.3%) than Millwall (38.8%) and Charton (32.4%), who are below them in the table.

The most likely of the chasing pack to make a surge up the table are 12th-placed Leicester City, who have been given a 31.8% chance of finishing in the top six and are more likely than Bristol City (28.9%), Derby (22.9%) and Birmingham (19.9%).

Last season's beaten play-off finalists Sheffield United have just a 1.8% chance of recovering their season to make the play-offs again, while relegated Premier League side Southampton (12.5%) aren't likely to either... if you trust the supercomputer!

Who is going down?

Image source, Rex Features

It's probably not hard to work out who is most likely to finish bottom and be relegated to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction, which has left them 17 points adrift of safety on -4 points, means they're pretty much nailed on to finish bottom (84.8%) - and failing that, are almost certain to go down (98.2%).

Second from bottom Norwich are the next most likely candidates to fall through the trap door (58.5%) but Sheffield United, who currently occupy the final relegation spot, have just a 22.4% chance of going down and are considered more likely to stay up than Oxford (37.8%) and Portsmouth (31.3%).

We made it through another international break!

The Championship action resumes in style on Friday night (20:00 GMT) as high-flying Preston North End welcome lowly Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers to Deepdale.

The Lilywhites are unbeaten in four games and lie fourth but would climb into the automatic promotion places ahead of the Saturday programme with a derby win.

Rovers saw a three-match winning run ended by a home defeat to Derby in their final game before the international break and sit 19th, six points clear of the relegation zone.

• The last three league meetings between Preston and Blackburn at Deepdale have all been drawn with a different scoreline – 1-1 in 2022/23, 2-2 in 2023/24 and 0-0 last season.

• Following a 2-1 win in January, Blackburn Rovers are looking for consecutive league wins over Preston for the first time since doing the double over them in 2021/22.

• Preston North End have 26 points after 15 Championship games this season (W7 D5 L3), their most at this stage of a campaign since 2019/20 (28), going on to finish 9th that season.

• Blackburn Rovers have won their past two away league matches, their third different run of consecutive away wins under manager Valerien Ismael. They haven't won three in a row since a run of four in November and December 2024 under John Eustace.

• Each of Blackburn Rovers' past five Championship goals have been scored by either Andri Gudjohnsen (3) or Yuki Ohashi (2), with Ohashi looking to score in three appearances in a row for the first time

Liam Lindsay says Preston are where they belong in the Championship table but it is too soon for fans to get carried away about a push for the Premier League.

After 15 games, the Lilywhites lie fourth, three points outside the automatic promotion places going into Friday night's derby clash with Blackburn at Deepdale (20:00 GMT).

A win would take North End into the top two ahead of Saturday's fixtures and Lindsay told BBC Radio Lancashire: "As a group we know we should be up in this kind of position in the table. Maybe the gaffer has instilled mentally a different side to us.

"Bringing higher quality players in and raising our standards has got us where we are and long may it continue."

But he urged Lilywhites fans not to get ahead of themselves, adding: "I can understand the excitement about the group, you look at the table and you can see why, but there is a lot of football to be played.

"By all means if it gets to May and we're still up there be as excited as you want."

Lindsay headed a last-minute winner for Preston in the derby at Ewood Park in November 2023.

"I have good memories of this game, another one like that would do nicely," he added.

"What a night it will be, especially under the lights at Deepdale.

"On the day of the game there's a little more nerves than you would usually get, personally speaking, and the game is probably spoken about a bit more during the week."

Lindsay was limited to one start and five appearances off the bench in North End's opening 12 league games but played 90 minutes in each of the last three before the international break, which yielded seven points.

"I've had to bide my time, I was unfortunate through injury," he said. "It's hard coming into a team that's winning every week but I think my experience has helped in that. I feel like I have come in quite seamlessly."

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has called for continued consistency from his players ahead of Friday's game against local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

He said his side should approach the game against Rovers the same as any other fixture.

"We should be putting no more effort into this than we were the last Friday night against Sheffield United or the last away game against Millwall," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I think we've been doing that because that's why I've been pleased with our consistency if you like in terms of performance level."

Preston are fourth in the Championship after 15 games.

"I would be disappointed if we didn't come and give our best," Heckingbottom added.

"We can't guarantee the result off the back of it but you can guarantee the effort.

"It's our job to try and put the players on the pitch with the belief that we can go out there and carry out a performance that gives us the points."

A bumper crowd is expected at Deepdale.

"It's virtually a sell out," Heckingbottom said.

"We've just got 100 single tickets left, that's it, dotted around the stadium which is really pleasing for me because that's a reflection of how well the players have been doing or probably more importantly how engaged our fanbase is with this team and how much they enjoy watching them so that really brought a smile to my face.

"We try and attack the games and that's us doing our part and the fans have responded with more at home.

"The away following has gone up a notch as well so I think that's all-in-all really positive."

You can listen to more from Paul Heckingbottom on BBC Sounds.

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sports editor

Image source, Rex Features

Preston North End go into the third international break placed very handily indeed.

Pre-season predictions would have had them being nowhere near three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough. It really is a far cry from the way last season ended, that's for sure.

At this stage a year ago, they were 11 points worse off. The draws are still a little on the high side, but the defeats have halved and the victories more than doubled.

This represents their second-best return at this point since returning to the Championship in 2015 - only Alex Neil's team in the Covid impacted season of 2019-20 amassed more.

So what have been the factors in this change?

The biggest one for me is that head coach Paul Heckingbottom had almost a full season to assess what he had and he knew things had to change, albeit with limited finances.

Of the 10 players to leave permanently, only really Emil Riis and Freddie Woodman could be considered first picks. Riis was clear that he was leaving, with the club deciding against a new deal for Woodman.

Following the recent arrival of Jamal Lewis, 13 players have come in, with only Odel Offiah costing a substantial fee. The rest were either free agents, loan signings or players allowed to leave Sheffield Wednesday after their issues paying players.

The change has breathed new life into a club that some of its own supporters felt was treading water and had been perhaps guilty of keeping the same nucleus of a squad for far too long.

With such an influx of new players, the hope is that as many as possible hit the ground running, and in the main they really have.

But it hasn't been straightforward. The physio room has been overcrowded for too long. We're still to see Brad Potts, Will Keane, Robbie Brady and Jordan Thompson this season because of injury - that's a combined 788 Championship appearances across the quartet.

Pol Valentin has missed the past eight games, Ali McCann has a broken arm and is on the long-term list, as is Andrija Vukcevic, and Daniel Jebbison hasn't been involved in six of the 15 games. It's a lot to contend with, which makes the achievements so far all the more impressive.

They'll now have another eight games without striker Milutin Osmajic. Providing all of the matches between now and Boxing Day are played, he'll be suspension-free for a visit to Wrexham on 29 December.

In terms of other key factors for the turnaround, some are pretty simple. They've scored more goals and substantially cut down on the number conceded.

They've got the joint best return for home points in the league. They've won five games already, having only won seven at Deepdale in the whole of last season.

And, importantly, they come out of traps quickly, as well as end games strongly. Of 20 goals scored, 11 have come either in the first 15 minutes or past the 76-minute mark.

Sometimes football can be made far too complicated. The facts are that North End have been great. The hope is that it continues.

The squad is infinitely better than the one they had a year ago and there is no reason why they can't keep this fine form going.

Former Preston North End forward Brett Ormerod says that Lilywhites fans must be "pinching themselves" following their fine start to the campaign.

North End are fourth in the table after a 1-1 draw with sixth placed Millwall on Saturday.

"Anyone would have taken a draw at The Den this year because they [Millwall] are really good at home so it's a fantastic point," Ormerod told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"You only have to look at Birmingham and Wrexham, who have spent massively. They aren't struggling but they are mid-table, they are still trying to find their feet in this league.

"I think a lot of people thought they'd just go and take the league by storm and be straight up at the top and it's not been the case, because this league is so competitive. There's nowhere you can go."

Listen to the full discussion and more Preston North End content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Rex Features

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom praised Daniel Iversen after the goalkeeper's blunder led to Millwall's equaliser in the 1-1 draw at The New Den.

"It was a beauty, wasn't it? I've seen a few of them before from goalkeepers – it's never nice when it happens to your team," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I'm really pleased he made a good save in the second half because other than that he was pretty quiet.

"He came for a good cross at the end but again he was protected really well by the team in front of him.

"He's a great character. He's played a lot of games and he knows how valuable he is to us. It's just frustrating when it does cost you points in a game.

"There were good moments but second half I loved the mentality we showed and how combative we were. I really enjoyed the second half."

Image source, Opta

Fifth hosts fourth on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 GMT) as in-form Preston head to Millwall.

The Lilywhites battled to a 2-1 win over Swansea on Wednesday night to make it three straight wins and climb one point and one place above the Lions.

Alex Neil's men were humbled 4-0 at Birmingham on Tuesday and have now taken a single point from their past two games after a four-match winning run before that.

• Millwall are unbeaten in each of their past 12 league meetings with Preston North End (W7 D5), and are only currently on a longer active unbeaten streak against Charlton Athletic (13).

• Preston North End have only won one of their past nine away games against the Lions in league competition (D3 L5), winning 3-1 in February 2019 thanks to goals from Andrew Hughes, Tom Clarke and Sean Maguire inside the opening 30 minutes.

• Millwall were beaten 4-0 in midweek against Birmingham City; their second four-goal defeat of the season, having also lost 4-0 to Coventry last month – it is the first time the Lions have suffered multiple defeats by at least four goals in a league campaign since 2014-15: 1-5 v Middlesbrough and 1-6 vs Norwich.

• Preston North End have won each of their past three Championship matches, just one fewer victory than they had managed in their previous 19 league games (W4 D7 L8).

• Former North End and now Millwall boss Alex Neil is unbeaten in his three home games against Paul Heckingbottom in the Football League, with each of those games coming against a different team: Preston 1-1 Barnsley in September 2017, Preston 3-1 Leeds United in April 2018 and Stoke City 3-1 Sheffield United in October 2022.

Preston North End held on for a 2-1 win over Swansea City on Wednesday to make it three league victories in a row, despite a lacklustre attacking performance.

The Lilywhites registered just four shots compared to the Swans' 18, but managed to claim all three points after going 2-0 up inside 50 minutes.

"I've got a headache, my voice is gone, I think I had a mini heart-attack second half, it was hard work," manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"I'm probably over the moon with it for all the wrong reasons.

"We've won a game where we weren't at our best. We've had to really be resilient, really dig deep."

A Thierry Small wonder goal put North End ahead after eight minutes, with Milutin Osmajic doubling the lead early in the second half but the sub-par performance has given Heckingbottom cause for concern.

"We were nowhere near where we want to be today. We started with energy but were poor with the ball."

With North End looking to return to the top flight for the first time since 1961, their ability to grind out results despite unconvincing performances brings encouragement for the side who currently sit fourth in the table.

"I think we can manage games pretty well so for us to go two up was a big, big thing, but we never wrestled control of the game," Heckingbottom said.

Next up is a visit to Millwall on Saturday (12:30 BST), who are just one point behind Preston. A win could move Heckingbottom's men into second in the Championship going into the final international break of the year.

Listen to the full interview with Paul Heckingbottom and more North End on Sounds.