Preston North End

Gavin Ramjaun
Final Score reporter at Deepdale

Image source, Getty Images

Many were touting Preston to go down come the end of the season, a long, long way off, yes, but as their finish to the last campaign saw them just stay up, you'd be justified to call it.

It's a solid side this, built on a big back three, a good keeper who can set up attacks, and old-fashioned bull-dozery up front. Never write Milutin Osmajic off for delivering when it matters, as he did from the penalty spot to give them the winner against Ipswich.

A talented player - and served well from the impressive Thierry Small down the Preston left. A modest team perhaps punching above their weight, could they be a shout for the play-offs?

It's a brilliant start for Paul Heckingbottom's side, two wins and a draw, with victories over two of the relegated sides from the top flight.

A word on Ipswich too, who need a wake-up call, still searching for their first win after relegation from the Premier League.

They play neat, intricate football but lack a finish. George Hirst, Sammie Szmodics, and Conor Chaplin are missing great chances; they've got the money from selling Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson. Kieran McKenna has to buy smart to stay in the hunt in this wily division.

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Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom says his side showed their development in the 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at Deepdale.

Milutin Osmajic's penalty secured the win for the hosts as they climb into the play-off places after an unbeaten start.

Heckingbottom says Preston won in a way they didn't last season and praised his players' character.

"We spoke last season about winning when second best," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We never won that way. Ipswich are a very good side and we had to stay strong."

Heckingbottom added that his team showed why fans should "stop moaning" about a lack of spending and says there are more important things.

"Forget the negativity. Why are we talking about what other clubs are spending? If that was important we'd have lost the game today. They are bringing £14m off the bench, they've got unbelievable talent that didn't get on the pitch.

"If that was the be all and end all we'd have lost. Quit moaning and focus on what we can do. We've signed good characters, we don't win today if we don't sign good people. Everyone connected with Preston should be proud of every player."

Preston North End will hope to grab three points off promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town on Saturday (15:00 BST) following an impressive 2-1 win over Leicester City.

The Tractor Boys are yet to fire up their Championship campaign, having drawn 1-1 with both Birmingham City and Southampton.

• Preston North End have won two of their last three league games against Ipswich Town (L1), after failing to win any of their prior eight matches against the Tractor Boys between April 2011 and November 2018 (D3 L5).

• Ipswich Town have won just two of their last 16 away league games against Preston North End (D6 L8), losing 3-2 on their last visit to Deepdale in February 2024.

• Preston North End have only lost four of their home league games since the start of last season; only Bristol City (3) have lost fewer home league games than the Lilywhites.

• After drawing each of their opening two Championship matches, Ipswich have now won just one of their last 21 league games (D6 L14) and have failed to keep a single clean sheet during that time.

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Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom has hailed goalkeeper Daniel Iversen as the Championship's "best free transfer".

North End re-signed Iversen, 28, on a free from Leicester City this summer.

The Dane made 71 Preston appearances during two loan spells between January 2021 and May 2022.

"Most people here knew what to expect, but it was new for Dan working with me and for me working with Dan," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"He's really comfortable here, he knows the place, he knows the people. He was really excited to come back and he was chomping at the bit from day one.

"I like to think we got the best free transfer out there. He gives off that aura and hopefully it brings the best out of him."

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It might be very early doors but there are worries for Leicester City.

After scraping past 10-man Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day, Leicester then got knocked out of the League Cup on penalties by third-tier Huddersfield Town, despite having named a strong starting XI.

They were then deservedly beaten by a team who survived by just a point on the final day of last season, in Preston.

There was over an hour without a shot on target, highlighting that Marti Cifuentes has plenty of work to do on that training ground to convince people that Leicester can bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Full credit though to Preston, who will want to forget the last miserable campaign.

They scored two cracking goals and with the addition of exciting young Tottenham loanee Alfie Devine in their ranks, could this finally be the year, Preston fans?

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire he was pleased with the 2-1 victory over Leicester that keeps his side unbeaten this campaign.

"I thought it was very good. I thought we should have been more in front than one when they equalised but I don't want us to settle, so if we are brave and we go for it and they get the second then we lose a point, but if we are brave and go for it and we get it then we gain two.

"It's those nudges and shifts in mentality. We've come away with the points and that's the big difference. We had to be good without the ball and we were with one blip being the goal.

"All their shots were from 20 yards. With the ball we were really positive. We had to make sure we kept the right mentality. We were really slick and clinical and I'm really pleased."

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has confirmed midfielder Mads Frokjaer-Jensen will miss out on Saturday's Championship match against Leicester City (15:00 BST).

The Dane sustained an injury during their midweek Carabao Cup game against Barrow and had to be substituted.

"Mads was pretty adamant that he didn't think it was a significant one at the time and the scans showed that but he won't be fit for this week," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

North End are currently battling numerous injury problems, with the manager openly criticising Daniel Jebbison's personal trainer for an ankle injury sustained by the Canada forward during a private session.

Right-back Brad Potts is currently out with a hamstring problem, while forward Will Keane and midfielder Robbie Brady are struggling with calf issues.

"Age and previous injury history is the biggest predictor of injuries," Heckingbottom added.

"Jebbo is a freaky one, Mads was in a game so you get that, [Liam Lindsay's is] contact but it ends up being illness keeping him out. So there's only those three [Potts, Keane and Brady] which I'd say we need to do better at."

Listen to the full pre-match interview with Heckingbottom on BBC Sounds.

Leicester City visit Preston North End on Saturday (15:00 BST) as they aim to recover from their Carabao Cup loss to Huddersfield Town on penalties in midweek.

The Foxes did manage to scrape a win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday in the their opening Championship match though, while Preston earned a point at QPR before squeezing past League Two side Barrow via an own goal in the cup.

• Preston North End have failed to win any of their last five league games against Leicester City (D1 L4), since a 2-1 win in September 2009 courtesy of goals from Richard Chaplow and Neil Mellor.

• Leicester City are unbeaten across their last seven away league games against Preston North End (W3 D4), winning 3-0 on their last visit to Deepdale in April 2024.

• Preston have won their opening home game in just one of the last five league campaigns (D1 L3), with that win coming against Sunderland in 2023-24 (2-1).

• Leicester have won four of their last five league games at this level (L1), netting 2+ goals in each victory including a 3-0 success at Deepdale in April 2024.

• On MD1 of the 2025-26 Championship season, Leicester City's Bilal El Khannouss provided more assists than any other player (2), both of which came from dead balls, while no player created more chances than his four.

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom was full of praise for his side as they put their name in the hat for the second round draw following a 1-0 EFL Cup win over League Two Barrow.

It was Preston's first win of the season after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Queens Park Rangers in their opening Championship game.

Saturday sees them host newly-relegated Leicester City (15:00 BST) who scored a late winner to beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in their opening fixture.

"We spoke a lot about last season, there were a lot of good performances that didn't end up in win, the only way to put the game to bed is taking those chances," Heckingbottsom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"When we had the bodies last season, our bench was really effective, we know how important that is going to be."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire after his side began the Championship season with a 1-1 draw at QPR.

"It's a good point overall when you're away from home and you go behind," Heckingbottom said.

"To come back and be the stronger team in the second half, I'm pleased with.

"Average first half but much more intent and aggression and how we want to play in the second half.

"I've always said it will take a good team to beat us when we play with that mindset."

Jack Bridge
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

If you're a Preston fan, you'll know the 2024-25 season was not one for the faint-hearted.

We spent far too much of it glancing nervously over our shoulders, the play-off chatter of previous years replaced by the far less glamorous business of staying up. We got there - just - but not before the winds of change swept through Deepdale.

Ryan Lowe's early-season exit felt like the end of a chapter. In came Paul Heckingbottom, a man who wasted no time telling it straight: the Championship is a "crazy" division, and Preston needed to toughen up if we were going to survive in it.

This summer has been all about laying foundations. Pre-season friendlies might not make headlines, the results are something we and Heckingbottom should pay little interest in. We saw a mix of the old guard and new faces, with a few academy lads making appearances too.

The nine signings so far haven't been about flashy names; they've been about the right characters - something we've been good at over the past few years. Thierry Small's arrival, for example, brings pace and bite to a backline that will need both, and some potential to be a valuable asset.

Of course, we've said goodbye to a few too. It's never easy watching familiar names move on - it begs the question, are we going to miss those 12 goals from Emil Riis, or the leadership of Ryan Ledson? There's been a measured, not reckless approach to the window so far but I feel like we still need a little more.

As a fan, you can't help but dream — that's the deal we sign up for. I'm not predicting miracles but if we can sprinkle some creative sparkle and add a sharper edge up top, we might just swap those nervous glances down the table for ambitious ones up in what is the most competitive Championship we've seen in a long, long time.

For now, it's hope mixed with a bit of healthy caution — which, if you've followed Preston long enough, feels like home.

The Julien Stephan era gets underway at Loftus Road on Saturday as Queens Park Rangers entertain Preston North End.

The Frenchman was appointed in June as successor to Marti Cifuentes and his first challenge comes in the form of Paul Heckingbottom's Lilywhites, who stayed up on the final day of last season.

• QPR have won each of their last four league games against Preston North End, as many victories as across their prior 17 meetings with the Lancashire side combined (D4 L9).

• Preston North End have lost four of their last six away league games against QPR (W2) and will be looking to avoid losing three in succession for the first time since 2010.

• QPR have lost their opening league match in each of the last three seasons – they've never done so in four in a row before.

• Preston have failed to win their opening league game in each of the last six seasons (D2 L4), though their last victory on the opening day did come against QPR (1-0 in 2018-19).

• Only Cardiff, Oxford and Plymouth (2 each) won fewer away games in the Championship last season than Preston (3), with the Lancashire side winless in their last seven on the road (D2 L5).

Andy Bayes
Sports editor, BBC Radio Lancashire

Preston North End start the new season without summer signing Jordan Thompson who will be missing for the next couple of months following ankle surgery.

Speaking about the injury, boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire: "It's another couple of months for Jordan. I think I said at the time that he had a misdiagnosis after the final game of last season [for Stoke City].

"He has had an operation now to sort it out and is in recovery which is hard for him because when you come to a new club, you want to start well and it is only when he got to a certain point that he realised something was wrong, so I feel for him."

Robbie Brady is also missing for a couple of weeks with a calf injury while Brad Potts will be assessed ahead of tomorrow's opening-day trip to QPR (15:00 BST).

Ahead of the game, Heckingbottom added: "I want to get going. Once these league games get underway, that is when you start getting proper feedback about the players.

"With the teams that have come up and come down, I have not got a clue how this Championship [season] is going to go. Our expectation for every game is to go and try to win."

Debuts could be handed to summer signings, Daniel Iversen (Leicester), Odel Offiah (Brighton), Pol Valentin and Michael Smith (Sheffield Wednesday), Thierry Small (Charlton), Daniel Jebbison (Bournemouth, loan), Andrija Vukcevic (FC Juarez).

Heckingbottom said he was "delighted" by the business the Lilywhites have done this summer - click here to listen to his full interview via BBC Sounds.

Preston North End are close to completing a loan move for Tottenham's 21-year-old English attacking midfielder Alfie Devine. (Lancashire Post), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.