Preston North End Vs Queens Park Rangers
Coca-Cola Championship Sunday 3rd May 2009
The last day of the season is an exciting time for most teams and none more so than those situated in the top 7 places. Wolverhampton Wanderers will undoubtedly have the champagne on ice ahead of receiving the Championship trophy whilst the second automatic promotion spot is yet to be decided. Birmingham, Sheffield United and Reading are all vying for that second lucrative promotion spot whilst Norwich and Barnsley fight it out for a place in next season's Championship.
However it is 6th place that North End have their eye on after putting together three wins on the bounce to give themselves a real shout of reaching the play-offs. Unfortunately it's not as straight forward as making sure the Lilywhites beat Queens Park Rangers as North End's fait is not entirely in their own hands. Either bitter rivals Burnley or the recently demolished Cardiff need to drop points if Preston are to have their season extended past 46 matches.
Cardiff visit Hillsborough to take on the Owls whilst Burnley are at home to Bristol City. Undoubtedly thousands of Preston supporters will have one eye, or an ear at least, on the goings on in South Yorkshire and East Lancashire.
Previous Meetings
December's trip to Loftus Road wasn't a pleasant one for Alan Irvine's side who were stung by a late winner from Dexter Blackstock. Having gone 1-0 down early on through a Heidar Helguson, Chris Sedgwick levelled the scoring just shy of the half hour mark only to see the Icelandic international net his second six minutes later.
Callum Davidson pegged QPR back on 60 minutes from the penalty spot which looked to be the way the game stayed. However with just four minutes of normal time remaining, Blackstock broke Preston hearts to seal the win for his side, sending the Lilywhites back up the M6 with not even a single point for their endeavours.
Last season's meeting at Loftus Road wasn't too joyful for North End either after throwing away a two goal lead. Neil Mellor and Tamas Priskin had put North End two goals to the good on 37 and 64 minutes respectively but were undone by two very late goals from a former Deepdale favourite, namely Gareth Ainsworth. Ainsworth who spent two spells at Deepdale notched two goals in the closing moments to salvage a point for Rangers when it looked as though the points were going to relegation threatened Preston.
QPR's last visit to Deepdale finished in a 0-0 draw with Paul Gallagher missing a penalty for North End. Overall, Preston have come up against QPR 30 times and have the edge in terms of victories with 10 over Rangers' 8. However the last home win over QPR came in the 2004/2005 season with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from David Healy and Richard Cresswell.
Team News
With Ross Wallace suspended, having picked up a second booking at St Andrews on Saturday, it will mean a midfield re-shuffle will be afoot. Simon Whaley and Darren Carter are the two prime candidates to step in whilst the versatile Callum Davidson remains a doubt. Youngsters Danny Mayor and Adam Barton may earn themselves a first team call-up.
North End will also have to do without the services of Lee Williamson who may have played his last game in a Preston shirt. The on-loan Watford midfielder was unsuccessful in having his red card overturned and instead will have to watch his teammates fight for a play-off place form the sidelines.