Match Day Thread Preston North End v Coventry City Deepdale 29/12/2020

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LAST TIME OUT

DERBY COUNTY 0 THE REF APPARENTLY 1

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COVENTRY CITY 0 STOKE CITY O

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TRANSFER NEWBIES FOR COVENTRY

Hamer 1.35 million, O'Hare, Da Costa, Hilssner

FORM GUIDE

PNE 11 COVENTRY 8

HEAD TO HEAD

First league meeting 10/9/1949 1-1
Last meeting 7/2/2015 1-0
Last Coventry win at Deepdale was a League cup tie 19/9/2000. Had to actually pay to see Carlton Palmer, league wise they have not won at Deepdale

MACS VIEW
A night time feast at an empty Deepdale on Tuesday as promoted Coventry arrive for a rare visit to the world's premier football ground. City the leagues most nomadic club presently ground share with Brum.
They have one of the smallest budgets in the league, even smaller than us, having to playbasically 46 games away from home makes the task of staying in the Championship a tough ask, at present they are not doing too badly.
They have tightened up at the back however potting at the other end seems to be a bit more difficult,three 0-0 on the trot at home.
They have a decent boss in Robins who rocketed in my estimation when refusing to shake Westley's hand after they beat us in about 2012s in a bin liner match
Not be easy this however after scabbing a win against Wayne Rooney leaves us five points from the play offs.
One thing though last match before the transfer window opens could be the last matches for Browne, Johnson, Davies and Fisher also the injured Pearson
An important period ahead both on and off the pitch

 

I can only see serious offers coming in for Davies and Pearson. Fisher, DJ and Browne are decent Championship players nothing more.

 

It’s the final game of what has been a very strange and difficult year for everyone on Tuesday night, when Preston North End welcome Coventry City to Deepdale.

But a victory for the Lilywhites would see them end 2020 on a high, on the back of three straight wins, however, that will be a tough task against a Sky Blues side who have adapted well after promotion in the summer.

PNE’s last gasp win over Derby County on Boxing Day lifted them onto the cusp of the top half of the table, with a victory in Tuesday certain to see them in that top half for the start of 2021.

The visitors return to Deepdale for the first time since February 2015, when Kevin Davies’ goal was enough to give the home side the three points on their way to their own promotion back to the second tier.

Team News
Alex Neil will need to assess the fitness of top scorer Scott Sinclair, who came off late in the game at Pride Park on Boxing Day.

Ryan Ledson returned for the victory over Derby County and played his part in Alan Browne's late winner, but the manager was still without Brad Potts, Ben Pearson, Louis Moult, Andrew Hughes and Billy Bodin.

For their stalemate at Stoke on Saturday, Sky Blues boss Mark Robins made two changes to his Coventry City side and they were boosted by the return of star men Gus Hamer and Matty Godden.

Godden went straight in for the injured Tyler Walker in the 3-4-2-1 formation. Midfielder Hamer, meanwhile, returned from a one match suspension, coming in for striker Max Biamou, who dropped to the bench.

Skipper Liam Kelly is a big absentee at the moment, with a groin injury, but other than the two returness, there were no other changes for Robins on Boxing Day.

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Match Officials
For the second time this season, taking charge of North End as referee on Tuesday night is experienced official Keith Stroud.

His game earlier this season was the televised encounter with Cardiff City, and he has also officiated the Sky Blues twice already, in draws against Swansea City and Norwich City, both ending 1-1.

Before this year, he last took charge of North End for our 2-1 home win over Fulham last December. Before that he also refereed of our win at Middlesbrough in March 2019 and the 1-1 draw with Swansea City back in January, his first game at Deepdale for a number of years.

In 2017/18, the Hampshire official took charge of two PNE games, both away from Deepdale, the first at Birmingham City back in September 2017, when goals from Tom Barkhuizen, Daniel Johnson and Jordan Hugill saw the side come from behind at the break to end Harry Redknapp’s tenure at St Andrews and the second, the win at Burton Albion in December the same year.

In 2016/17 his only game with the whistle for a PNE game was our loss at Brentford, whilst the previous season he also took charge of another game at Birmingham, as North End came from 2-0 down against what was then Gary Rowett’s men, with goals from Alan Browne and now Bluebirds defender Greg Cunningham earning the Lilywhites a point.

That was his second North End game in two months after he took charge of PNE’s home win over Sheffield Wednesday in February 2015, as well as PNE's last clash with a steel city side at Deepdale, 2014/15's FA Cup tie with Sheffield United. The win over the Owls was his last visit to Deepdale prior to January.

The official also refereed the Lilywhites Play-Off clash with Rotherham United in May 2014 as well as the previous season’s 3-2 home win over Ipswich Town, when Joe Garner scored a second half hat-trick as a substitute to knock the Tractor Boys out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage.

His two previous league trips to Deepdale prior to that also saw wins, the famous 6-0 triumph over Cardiff City, which led to the Play-Offs in 2009 and a 2-1 win over West Brom the previous year, when the Lilywhites ended the game with nine men after the dismissal of both Youl Mawene and Chris Brown.

On Tuesday, Keith will be assisted by Jonathan Hunt and Matthew Jones, with Lewis Smith acting as the fourth official. It will be Keith’s 19th game of the season, having so far issued 44 cautions and one red card.

 

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Johnson 1 up

 

2 up Maguire

 

3 wins and clean sheets on the bounce

 

Apparently a sticky first half but improved in the second. If there has been a pattern this season, it seems to be that.

 

Daniel Johnson and Sean Maguire scored in either half as Preston North End beat Coventry for their third Championship win in a row.

Maguire's tenacity created the opener as he won the ball on the edge of the box and played in Johnson to slot home.

Preston keeper Declan Rudd saved twice from Gustavo Hamer in the first half as Coventry failed to make the most of their chances.

Maguire settled matters early in the second half, poking home after a scramble following Paul Gallagher's free-kick.

• Relive Tuesday's EFL action

Rudd was tested on several occasions by Hamer, first in the early stages of the first half and then late on in the game, when he denied substitute Sam McCallum.

The Sky Blues, though, were not as unforgiving at the back.

First, Ben Sheaf coughed up the ball on the edge of his own box following pressure from Maguire, enabling Johnson to finish despite almost slipping over.

When the City defence failed to clear Gallagher's free-kick after 53 minutes, Maguire was the beneficiary.

Preston have now recorded three straight league wins for the first time in over a year - and have done so with three consecutive clean sheets, the first time they have achieved that since a run of six shut-outs in 2015.

North End begin 2021 at home to Nottingham Forest on 2 January, having now not conceded a goal at Deepdale for 285 minutes.

Coventry, winless in four matches, will travel to Millwall on Saturday.

Preston North End manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"The most important is finding a way to win the match. I thought we defended well, and when opportunities came our way we were dangerous.

"I thought Tom Barkhuizen did really well up front. Sean Maguire was excellent as well and gave us a good platform up there, particularly at the start of the second half.

"There's aspects of the game that we certainly could do a lot better. But we won the match - three wins on the bounce, and three clean sheets on the bounce, so I've got to be pleased with that."

Coventry City manager Mark Robins told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire:

"I feel frustrated and angry - we've played some really good stuff and given the game away. We've got to stop giving goals away like we've done tonight.

"We've opened them up a number of times, they couldn't live with us, and gave them a goal which gave them a foothold in it.

"Then we gave another poor goal away from Jamie Allen's foul. Ball comes in, we haven't defended it properly - the line wasn't right to start with, we've been overloaded at the back post.

"We should have won that game. It shouldn't have even been a draw."