This Week's Opposition: Preston North End

Pompey Live panellist Kirsty Roxanne delivers insight into Portsmouth's next Championship opponent.

Fortress Fratton was struck with its first defeat after 4 consecutive wins on Wednesday night as Plymouth Argyle walked away with a 2-1 victory and all 3 points for the first time on the road this season.

The 3rd game in the space of just 6 days sees John Moushino's Blues face a trip up North to take on Preston North End.

MANAGER

In the Deepdale dugout is Paul Heckingbottom.

Previously head coach of Sheffield United and Barnsley, Heckingbottom guided both the sides to promotion from their respective leagues during his first season.

At the time of his appointment, Heckingbottom acted as Preston’s third manager in just 3 games at the start of this season - The club had sacked Ryan Lowe just 1 game in.

ONE TO WATCH

Leeds loanee Sam Greenwood is our one to watch.

The attacking midfielder made 35 appearances for his parent club, with the majority of those coming in the Premier League.

Last term, Greenwood was on loan with Middlesbrough and won their Goal of the Season award for a free-kick against Leicester City.

Greenwood wears the number 20 shirt and currently has 5 league goals and 2 assists to his name this campaign.

TOP SCORER

Emil Riis Jakobsen is the top goalscorer for The Lilywhites.

He joined in the summer of 2020 from Danish Superliga side Randers FC.

Riis started the 2021/22 season in fine form, scoring 5 goals in all competitions by the end August. His goalscoring form continued, scoring 16 goals in all competitions by the end of January 2022.

The number 9 has nearly doubled his goalscoring tally from last season, with 10 goals and 2 assists from his 36 Championship appearances so far.

CURRENT FORM

Heckingbottom’s side currently occupy 15th in the Championship - 2 points and 2 places ahead of the Blues.

Their recent draw on Tuesday night means The Lilywhites have now accumulated 44 points this campaign, the same as QPR in 14th and Swansea in 16th.

In the reverse fixture, it was Pompey who came out on top with a 3-1 win. This game also saw the return of Colby Bishop, who was also on the scoresheet in his first game back after heart surgery.

Preston have also recently made it through to the Quarter-Finals of The FA Cup, beating Burnley in Round 5 to set up a meeting with Champions League outfit Aston Villa at the end of the month with the carrot of a Wembley appearance in the Semis dangling in front of the winner.

Can the Blues collect all 3 points at Deepdale and leapfrog their opponents?

Catch all of the unmissable action this Saturday (March 15th) afternoon from 2pm when Pompey Live returns with Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and Danny Thompson providing full pre-match build-up, half-time analysis and post-game reaction.

Kick-off: 3pm!