Sheffield Wednesday travel to Deepdale this evening looking to bounce back from consecutive home defeats. Of course there is no shame in losing to Reading and Wolves but it was the manner of the defeats that were most disappointing as Wednesday were unable to put any real sustained pressure on either of the promotion chasing sides.
The Owls will be without striker Leon Clarke who limped out of the defeat to Wolves on Saturday at half time with a hamstring problem that is currently being assessed.
Francis Jeffers is in line to take his place with Akpo Sodje likely to be on the bench.
Midfielder Darren Potter was ineligible to play against his parent club at the weekend but could return at the expense of James O' Connor who failed to make a telling impression on his return to the side.
Brian Laws was disappointed with some slack defending on Saturday and he has options if he wishes to change the back four with Frank Simek and Mark Beevers both in contention.
The home side will be without experienced defender Callum Davidson through injury and midfielder Richard Chaplow, who scored at Hillsborough earlier in the season, is also likely to miss out.
Preston can however call upon the services of Paul McKenna and Jon Parkin as they return from suspension. Target man striker Parkin had been in decent form before his ban and has caused Wednesday problems before, particularly a few seasons ago when at Hull City.
Wednesday will be looking to put their back to back home defeats out of their minds and pick up where they last left off on the road, a 4-2 win at Preston's local rivals Burnley.
Preston have an excellent home record, their 13 wins on their own turf this season is only matched by Birmingham in the Coca Cola Championship but they also come into the game on the back of two defeats - away at Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
The two teams played out a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough back in August but Wednesday have not won at Preston in their last six attempts.