Alan Irvine’s North End travel to the Wirral on Saturday for their fourth pre-season outing to take on John Barnes’ Tranmere Rovers.
Thus far the Lilywhites have only conceded one goal in their three other pre-season matches and will be looking to continue that defensive resolution against League One outfit Tranmere at Prenton Park.
The forthcoming matchup sees North End take on a team of a much higher calibre than the likes of Bamber Bridge and Chorley, without any disrespect, meaning that it will be a good test to see where Alan Irvine’s team are at in terms of both fitness and their preparations for the 2009/2010 season.
Previous Meetings
Due to both teams playing in different leagues in recent years, the last time North End came up against Tranmere Rovers was during the 2001/2002 season. That game saw Preston suffer a heavy 4-1 defeat in the League Cup back in September 2001.
Preston’s last win against Tranmere was the year before that when both teams were in the First Division. The date was Saturday 14th October and North End record a slender 1-0 win.
Team News
Already it seems that Alan Irvine will have to do without certain key players with strikers Neil Mellor and Stephen Elliott both likely to be sidelined. Mellor was due to play against Bamber Bridge on Tuesday but was let watching from the dugout with Jamie Proctor taking his place. Former Sunderland striker Elliott picked up a knock in Austria which ruled him out of the Bamber Bridge/Chorley games.
Jon Parkin, Chris Brown and Karl Hawley have all netted in their last three games and are all likely to play apart on Saturday whilst midfielders Paul McKenna and Simon Whaley will not. McKenna is reportedly close to sealing his move to Nottingham Forest whilst Whaley is due to be in Norfolk to discuss terms ahead of a transfer to Norwich City.
