Preston North End Vs Chesterfield
Carling Cup Tuesday 12th August 2008
Preston have never seemed to have much luck in the Carling Cup in recent years having lost to Morecambe last year in a 2-1 defeat at Deepdale and a losing to Port Vale the year before. Alan Irvine will be treating this game as any other and will be wanting a victory to try and get some sort of run going. Chesterfield's opening fixture against Barnet resulted in a 3-1 away win for Derbyshire outfit who themselves will be looking to eradicate last years short stay in the Carling Cup having lost to Sheffield United. The Spireites do have it in their locker to knock out Championship opponents having seen off Wolves in a penalty shootout the year before.
Previous Meetings
The last time these two sides met was back in the 1999/2000 season when North End went up as Division Two (now League One) champions. Chesterfield recorded a 2-0 win at Deepdale in September '99 before the Lilywhites got their own back recorded a 1-0 away win in February 2000.
Overall, Preston have come up against Chesterfield 46 times with Preston having the slight advantage with 17 wins over Chesterfield's 14. However, this Tuesdays fixture will be the first time they have met in the League Cup having only previously met in a cup competition once before when Chesterfield ran riot in a 4-1 win back in November 1981.
Head to Head
With Preston facing lower league opposition, it might be considered a good chance for the likes of Neil Mellor to bag a goal or two. With that in mind I suspect the former Liverpool man to be on his toes and giving the likes of Chesterfield's Robert Page a hard time and net his first goal(s) of the season. Page, the seasoned veteran, will have to be on his toes himself if he is to thwart the efforts of Neil Mellor who has shown he has a good burst of pace when needed.
At the other end, Jack Lester bagged a brace for Chesterfield on Saturday meaning Youl Mawene will have to have his wits about him on Tuesday night and under no circumstances, underestimate his opponents.
Team News
Alan Irvine may deem Tuesday's fixture the ideal opportunity to give those who did not feature on Saturday a run out. Ross Wallace could make his debut on the left and Karl Hawley could slot in up front with striker Chris Brown not expected to be fit.