Preston North End vs Burton Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance17,058.
Friday 4 May 2018 11:20, UK
Play-off chasing Preston will check on the fitness of midfielder Ben Pearson ahead of their final-day Sky Bet Championship clash against relegation-threatened Burton.
Pearson may have done some minor damage as he tried to play on after suffering cramp in the latter stages of last week's victory at Sheffield United.
Manager Alex Neil has no other new injury concerns as Preston look to snatch a spot in the top six. The Lilywhites need to win and hope Derby slip up against Barnsley to make the play-offs.
Burton have doubts over Damien McCrory and Lloyd Dyer as they look to pull themselves out of the bottom three. Defender McCrory (shoulder) and midfielder Dyer (hamstring) both missed last week's vital victory over Bolton.
Ben Turner and John Brayford are expected to shake off minor knocks that have limited their involvement in training this week. Albion's fate is out of their hands but they have given themselves a chance of survival by winning their last three games.
Preston have never lost against Burton in the Football League (W2 D1).
The only previous league meeting between the teams at Deepdale ended 1-1 in the Championship last season.
When their final match of a league season has been at Deepdale, Preston are unbeaten in their last 14 matches (W11 D3) since losing 2-1 to Notts County in 1987-88.
Burton Albion have won three consecutive league games having won just one of their previous 16.
No Championship side has won more points from losing positions than Preston North End (19).
Alan Browne has hit the woodwork four times this season - only Norwich's James Maddison (five) and Leeds' Pierre-Michel Lasogga (six) have hit the woodwork more.
This is a proper must-win game at Deepdale. Preston have nothing to lose in going for it because it's their only chance of leap-frogging Derby into sixth, and Burton really need to go for the win.
A draw could keep Albion up but they would be relying far too much on results to go their way around them. They are on a high at the moment after three straight wins and this should be a cracker on Sunday, but I think these two sides will end up sharing the points, and that would help no one.
David Prutton predicts: 1-1 (13/2 with Sky Bet)
