Now the nonsense of the transfer window is over, It's back to matters on the pitch with the visit of struggling Hull City to Deepdale, now under the stewardship of Nigel Adkins, the Tigers are perilously close to the relegation zone, results have not improved dramatically since the arrival of the one time physio at Scunthorpe although they look harder to beat, defensively look stronger having only conceded two goals in the last four games. On deadline day they brought in Harry Wilson from Liverpool and Angus MacDonald from Barnsley on a two and a half year deal having previously worked with Adkins at Reading. They managed to keep a hold of Bowen who has had a really good season also have some experience in the side with Meyler and the useful Jackson Irvine, Larssen and Campbell have loads of experience and they also have our ex loan star "Will Keane " making the long haul back to fitness having been out of action for the last 12 months. Still having off the field difficulties with their owners been a tough season for the clubs supporters but a return to the Premiership seems a long way off at the moment. As for us start with the side that trounced the Florets on Tuesday need a win to stop the doom mongers complaining about not replacing Hugill, have faith my friends you will be rewarded with more entertaining football and no reliance on the long ball to a big up up front, also would be nice to take three points to back up Tuesday's result. Now the nonsense of the transfer window is over, It's back to matters on the pitch with the visit of struggling Hull City to Deepdale, now under the stewardship of Nigel Adkins, the Tigers are perilously close to the relegation zone, results have not improved dramatically since the arrival of the one time physio at Scunthorpe although they look harder to beat, defensively look stronger having only conceded two goals in the last four games. On deadline day they brought in Harry Wilson from Liverpool and Angus MacDonald from Barnsley on a two and a half year deal having previously worked with Adkins at Reading. They managed to keep a hold of Bowen who has had a really good season also have some experience in the side with Meyler and the useful Jackson Irvine, Larssen and Campbell have loads of experience and they also have our ex loan star "Will Keane " making the long haul back to fitness having been out of action for the last 12 months. Still having off the field difficulties with their owners been a tough season for the clubs supporters but a return to the Premiership seems a long way off at the moment. As for us start with the side that trounced the Florets on Tuesday need a win to stop the doom mongers complaining about not replacing Hugill, have faith my friends you will be rewarded with more entertaining football and no reliance on the long ball to a big up up front, also would be nice to take three points to back up Tuesday's result. Stat Attack: Hull City please log in to view this image We welcome Nigel Adkins’ Hull City to Deepdale for the 27th time in the league, looking to extend our excellent home record against the Tigers. To date, we have won 20 of the matches here, with only two draws and four defeats. It is fair to say this has been an irregular fixture over the years since Hull first made the trip across from the east coast in 1912, with several breaks of ten years and more between meetings. The Tigers didn’t take a single point from the first six matches and we outscored them by 13 goals to three before they finally won a game here, by 2-1 in 1930. Normal service was resumed at the next meeting when we recorded our biggest win to date (5-0) and once again won six in a row, before the first ever draw in 1970. North End were pegged back three times by our visitors, whose scorers included their deadly 1970s strike pairing of Chris Chilton and Ken Wagstaffe. Hull’s record win came in 1985 thanks to a 4-1 scoreline and their most recent win was seven years (But only two matches) ago. PNE’s Community and Education Trust’s education officer Graeme Atkinson will no doubt be an interested spectator, having been born in Hull and played 170 times for the Tigers before joining North End in 1994 and being a key figure in our title winning side of 1996. Another well remembered former player with both clubs is Garry Swann. Swanny preceded Graeme in crossing from east coast to west in 1986 and became a regular goalscorer for North over the next five years. Whether playing in midfield or as full back, Garry had the knack of ghosting in unseen at the far post and was a deadly finisher, recording 46 goals in exactly 250 appearances without once playing as a striker. Chris and Wayne Brown, Stephen Doyle, Kevin Kilbane and of course John Welsh have also turned out for both clubs during their careers. On This Date We have played some notable FA Cup ties on this date in the past, most recently when overcoming Sheffield United 3-1 in a fourth round replay three years ago, thanks largely to two goals from Paul Gallagher. It seemed our chances of progressing had gone following a 1-1 draw at Deepdale, but we overcame an early setback when conceding in the 38th minute to score three times in a ten minute spell, Paul Huntington our other scorer that night. The reward was of course that thrilling night in front of the cameras when Scott Laird gave us hope of an upset against Manchester United before we finally went down 3-1. We also lost a dramatic replay at the same stage of the competition in 1969. Having drawn 0-0 with Chelsea at Deepdale, we headed for London for the replay only to be reprieved when 2-0 down by a floodlight failure. When the match was rearranged, we entered the final minute leading 1-0 thanks to Gerry Ingram’s goal, only to concede twice in the dying seconds and be knocked out of the cup. David Webb and Charlie Cooke were the Pensioners who broke North End hearts that night in from of over 36,000 relieved Chelsea fans. Birthday greetings to Steve Harper (49 on Saturday and another player to feature for both clubs) and former loanee Adam Reach, who is 25. Adam is of course now playing for Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday after leaving Middlesbrough in 2016 after a highly-successful spell here . Last Five Games At Deepdale Preston North End 1 (Gallagher) Hull City 0, 28th December 2015 Preston North End 0 Hull City 2 (Garcia, Barmby), 12th November 2010 Preston North End 3 (Agyemang, Whaley, Neal) Hull City 0, 4th December 2007 Preston North End 2 (Dichio, 2) Hull City 1 (Welsh), 21st October 2006 Preston North End 3 (Johnson, Jones, McKenna) Hull City 0, 1st November 2005 Ref Watch: Hull City please log in to view this image North End welcome match official Steve Martin to Deepdale for the first time this season at the weekend. It is his second game in charge of the Lilywhites this campaign, having been the match official for the away game at Wolves back in October. Last season he took charge of three North End games, having been the match official of our home win over Cardiff City in September 2016, our away win at Norwich City in October and the 1-1 home draw with Ipswich Town in January 2017. The 3-0 win over the Bluebirds was his first clash at Deepdale since the EFL Cup second round victory over Watford in 2015/16, when Marnick Vermijl’s goal won the tie for the Lilywhites. He also officiated PNE in March 2013 when we drew 0-0 with Leyton Orient. He has, however, refereed North End twice since then on the road – red cards being produced in both encounters. He sent off Oldham Athletic’s Johnson Clarke-Harris when the Lilywhites beat the Latics 3-1 at Boundary Park in March 2014. And he was also the man in the middle when PNE made the long journey to Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Cup in 2014/15, sending off two Havant players in the live televised match as PNE swept their non-league opponents aside 3-0 thanks to Callum Robinson’s hat-trick. This weekend his team will see Steven Meredith and Mark Dwyer as the two assistants, with Robert Jones the fourth official.
Preston North End 2 Cunningham, Browne pen Hull City 1 Bowen PNE: Rudd, Fisher, Clarke, Huntington, Cunningham, Pearson (Harrop 76), Gallagher (Johnson 69), Bodin, Browne, Barkhuizen, Robinson (Moult 79). Subs (not used): Horgan, Spurr, Earl, Maxwell. Hull: McGregor, Aina, MacDonald, Hector, Clark, Bowen, Meyler (Evandro 69), Larsson, Irvine, Dicko (Keane 74), Campbell (Wilson 69). Subs (not used): Diomande, Tomori, Stewart, Marshall. Referee: Stephen Martin (Staffordshire) Attendance: 11,605 (601 away) Not at our best today but three vital points which put us three points from the play offs in seventh place. City made it hard for us after our usual slow start with an early bout of had tennis causing us difficulties but apart from that there was little goal mouth action in the first thirty minutes as both sides cancelled each other out. City took the lead just after North End's first shot of the game from Robinson. Quick thinking from a throw in caught Fisher out of position the ball was worked across the park to Bowen who from about 15 yards scored well from the inside right channel. Mockery came from the away support about being in the lead, well it didn't last long, Cunningham free header from a corner, all square and by half time in the lead from the penalty spot after Bodin was brought down after chasing the ball following his own shot. Browne sent McGregor the wrong way 2-1. At the start of the second half we played probably our best football of the game however couldn't get a third although Robinson was unlucky following a great move down the right led to the forwards shot being stopped by the keeper. With the games flow interrupted by substitutions City started to get back into it Fisher blocked a goal bound effort and Clarke cleared from his own six yard box, as City piled on the pressure towards the end, however we hung on a bit at the end to take the points, so a rare back to back wins this week and a double over City a rarity indeed. Only downside Pearson hits 10 bookings therefore misses next two which are Brentford and Wolves. Browne rightly given MOM which makes the decision not to start him against Birmingham in the last home game even stranger. Preston manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I think at this stage of the season, I said this to the lads, winning the game is more important than performances at times. "You can play really well but, if you don't get anything at the end of it, it doesn't really matter. Points are the prizes just now. "We didn't start the game well, I think it took us 15 minutes to understand the what the game was about. "We conceded the first goal, it was quite fortunate, it looped into the net. Lesser teams give up to an extent, but we didn't do that, we put our foot to the gas and managed to get two goals." Hull head coach Nigel Adkins told BBC Radio Humberside: "Against a good Preston side, we've come away from home, started well, nullified a lot of strengths they have, put the ball in right areas and scored a great goal. "The big turning point for me is just before half-time, the referee wrongly gives the decision to award a penalty. "It's not a penalty and the linesman is closest to it. It's hard for the referee to see it, so how can you give the decision? "The linesman believes it's not a penalty, the referee's not even spoke to him. For me, it's changed the whole complexion of the game."
