Preston North End vs Morecambe; Carabao Cup First Round
Preston North End vs Morecambe. Carabao Cup First Round.
DeepdaleAttendance6,077.
Preston North End 3
- B Barker (14th minute)
- L Moult (33rd minute)
- G Burke (58th minute)
Morecambe 1
- L Mandeville (47th minute)
Preston v Morecambe preview
Monday 13 August 2018 22:33, UK
Preston boss Alex Neil is expected to shuffle his pack for the Carabao Cup clash against League Two Morecambe.
Brandon Barker, a loan signing from Manchester City, could benefit with a first start after making his debut from the bench at the weekend.
Daniel Johnson is fit again and could feature. Ryan Ledson, Paul Huntington and Paul Gallagher are all eyeing first starts of the season.
Billy Bodin (knee) is out for six months, Sean Maguire (hamstring) is out and Daryl Horgan has left the club for Hibernian.
Morecambe are crossing their fingers for an upturn after starting the season with eight goals conceded and none scored.
That leaves them bottom of the English Football League, with manager Jim Bentley due to assess the options in his squad.
Recent signings AJ Leitch-Smith and Jason Oswell could be handed their first starts after appearing as substitutes.
Luke Conlan and Lamin Jagne may also be summoned from bench duty as Bentley seeks an upset to kick-start the campaign. Defender Sam Lavelle is out for several weeks with a leg injury.
Opta stats
This will be just the fifth competitive meeting between Preston and Morecambe, with Preston running out victorious in two of the four previous games, while also winning on penalties in a Football League Trophy clash back in October 2011.
Morecambe's only previous win over Preston came in the EFL Cup back in August 2007, winning 2-1 at Deepdale in a first-round clash.
Preston were eliminated in the first round of this competition last season courtesy of a 2-3 defeat to Accrington Stanley. Prior to this they had progressed in each of the previous nine such ties.
Morecambe have lost five of their last six League Cup matches, winning the other versus Rotherham in a nine-goal thriller in August 2016 (5-4).
Preston have found the net in 17 of their last 18 League Cup matches against lower league opposition, only drawing a blank versus Notts County in August 2003.
