With a 2-2 draw on the opening day and the emphatic 5-1 win over Morecambe in the Carling Cup on Tuesday, North End now find themselves in the embryonic stages of an unbeaten run.
However, Doncaster themselves have an identical record to Preston after their first two games of the 2009/2010 season. A well earned draw to Watford on Saturday and a 1-0 over Sven Goran Eriksson’s new employers Notts County has been enough to see an unbeaten start for Sean O’Driscoll’s side.
Something has got to give, though, meaning that one team’s run could come to an end come 5pm on Saturday. If that team is Doncaster then Preston will have to show similar form to that of the back end of last season which saw the Lilywhites unbeaten in their last 4 away games.
Previous Meetings
North End completed the double over Doncaster last season with a 2-0 win at the Keepmoat in April and a 1-0 win at home in December.
The game at Deepdale which saw Jon Parkin net his first goal for the club after the Beast came off the bench to head the ball past Neil Sullivan in the last 10 minutes to give North End a vital win. A goal that seemed to spark Parkin’s rich vein of goal scoring form.
The reverse fixture saw North End record their first away win in 4 months after the Lilywhites bounced back from the crushing derby day defeat to Blackpool.
North End took the lead at the Keepmoat Stadium through Chris Brown who got on the end of an excellent Eddie Nolan cross to head in the top corner before Neil Mellor pounced on a miss-hit Jon Parkin shot to seal the win on the 72 minute.
In total, North End have come up against Doncaster 27 times. Preston have the edge in terms of wins with 14 as opposed to Rovers’ 9. However, when North End have been the visiting team, they have only managed to record 3 wins and 3 draws.
Team News
Doncaster will have to do without Steve Brooker (ankle), Stuart Elliott (ankle) and former Sunderland midfielder Martin Woods (hernia) who are all long-term absentees.
North End will welcome the return of defenders Sean St Ledger, Eddie Nolan and Callum Davidson who have been on international duty for Republic of Ireland and Scotland respectively whilst new boy Veliche Shumulikoski will make his return after lining up for Macedonia.
A clean bill of health see’s Alan Irvine face several selection headaches having seen Darren Carter, Chris Sedgwick, Neal Trotman and Liam Chilvers all put in good performances against Morecambe on Tuesday.