Nottingham Forest Vs Preston North End Match Preview

Last updated : 03 March 2009 By Paul Neat

Nottingham Forest Vs Preston North End

Coca-Cola Championship Tuesday 3rd March 2009

North End got themselves back to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Ipswich Town following the 3-1 defeat to the Saints the week previous. However, the Lilywhites' home form has never been in doubt after holding one of the best record on their own patch in the division and instead attentions turn to their dismal form on the road.

A trip to the City Ground to take on a rejuvenated Nottingham Forest was always going to be a difficult challenge without taking Preston's travel sickness into consideration.

Preston's form on the road has seen them pick up just three wins all season having attributed to Wolves' recent downfall as well as beating Ipswich on the opening day, not to mention the famous 3-1 win over Blackpool.

A win for Preston would see them put pressure on 3rd place Reading who have two games in hand over North End whereas a defeat could see them drop to 6th.

Previous Meetings

North End's last meeting with Forest back in September saw the Lilywhites send, what was then, Colin Calderwood's side back to the East Midlands with nothing to show for their endeavours. Neil Mellor and Youl Mawene netted for the home side to seal a 2-1 win.

However, North End's last trip to the City Ground, back in February 2005, resulted in a 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Kris Commons and Paul Evans.

All together Preston have played Forest 87 times with North End having a distinct advantage with 38 wins over Forest's 26.

Team News

With Chris Sedgwick ruled out with a hernia, Simon Whaley is expected to continue on the right whilst Andrew Davies is in contention after recovering from the injuries that ruled him out of the Ipswich game.

Alan Irvine has suggested making some changes to his system instead of using his more familiar 4-4-2 system that he has adopted for the majority of the season.