Preston North End vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance11,264.
Monday 5 March 2018 20:02, UK
Darnell Fisher will return from suspension for Preston against Bristol City.
The defender missed North End's previous two fixtures having accrued 10 yellow cards this season. However, Lilywhites boss Alex Neil is still without club captain Tom Clarke, who is only just back in full training following a knock.
Sean Maguire (hamstring) made his first appearance in four months from the bench against Bolton on Saturday and despite scoring twice, he will likely start among the substitutes again.
Bristol City have concerns over four players ahead of the trip to Deepdale. Eros Pisano (hamstring) made his first start in over four months against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and boss Lee Johnson is concerned about the quick turnaround.
Ex-Preston defender Bailey Wright (knee) missed out against the Owls but should be OK, while Nathan Baker (groin) is another worry for Johnson. Joe Bryan is expected to feature despite taking a whack to the head at the weekend, though Callum O'Dowda (ankle) and Matty Taylor (hernia) are still out.
Preston have won each of their last four league games against the Robins, although only one of those wins was at Deepdale - a 5-0 win in April 2017.
Bristol City have won one of their last 10 league matches at Deepdale (D4 L5) - they won 4-0 in a Championship match in February 2011.
Preston have conceded exactly one goal in 10 of their last 11 matches in all competitions, keeping a clean sheet in the other.
Bobby Reid has scored five of the Robins' last six league goals, including a hat-trick in their last game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Sean Maguire has been involved in five goals in his last four league matches for Preston (four goals, one assist).
Lee Johnson has lost seven of his eight league matches against Preston as a manager, drawing the other - indeed, those seven defeats are more than against any other club during Johnson's Football League managerial career.
Bristol City were very impressive against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend and Preston are quietly going about it, which I've really quite enjoyed. They are the kind of team who flies under the radar and I think that's played to their advantage. They did well to come from behind to win against Bolton.
There's only three points between them and, depending on other results, a win gets them closer to the top-six so I think it'll be a high-scoring but closely fought game.
Prutton predicts: 2-2 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
