PNE will be looking forward to continuing their impressive away from and 10 match unbeaten run against Championship strugglers Crewe.
Assistant Ned Kelly said after the 1-1 draw against Watford: "We have kept the unbeaten run going and that is going to be good for confidence.
"We wanted to get seven points from the last week and we’ve done that now."
PNE suffer a blow with the news that Patrick Agyemang will be out with a hamstring injury until the New Year, after a good spell upfront for the Whites. That means PNE have only 3 strikers in Nugent, Dichio and Hibbert to get them though the hectic christmas period before the transfer window opens again in January.
But the good news is McKenna looks set to be in the starting eleven after being on the bench at Watford. His lack of sleep from being in hospital with his Mother meant he wasn’t able to start against the Hornets.
Meanwhile relegation battlers Crewe have only managed to pick up 7 points in the last 6 games, and will be desperate to get out of their bad form before the busy Christmas period.
They have lost their last three games, but manager Gradi claims they were unlucky to lose by 3 goals against Burnley, and thought ‘keeper Ben Williams was at fault for two goals.
Dario said: "I was disappointed with the second goal and I have told Ben that.
"Again with the third goal, I thought it went through him, and we weren’t coming back from 3-0."
Welsh international David Vaughan is expected to be back for Crewe after 2 games out dues to a back problem endured in training a while back. However, left back Tonkin is doubtful with an ankle injury he sustained at Luton.
MAN TO WATCH: Steve Jones. Crewe’s leading goal scorer is in the middle of a contract saga, but always causes a threat against the Whites