Team News
Darren Ferguson can welcome back key defender Sean St. Ledger following a hamstring injury and he is likely to replace Wayne Brown who is now absent with a calf strain.
John Utaka is a major doubt for this game having not trained at all during the week after limping off against Reading. This injury should be offset by the return of Tommy Smith, who is available again after a hip problem.
The Match
I see this match following one of two scripts.
The first is that Pompey go to Deepdale and play out a dire goalless draw with the hosts in the pouring rain during the 90 minutes of normal time, only to concede a scrappy late winner and lose to the only side without a point in the division, sending all the travelling Pompey fans back home with a nasty frown on their faces.
The second is that Pompey go to Deepdale and play out a dire goalless draw with the hosts in the pouring rain during the 90 minutes of normal time, only for Preston's former hero in David Nugent to bundle home a winner for Pompey, sending all the travelling Pompey fans back home with a massive smile on their faces.
It may only be three weeks into the new season but there is already some pressure going into this one. Should Pompey lose it's likely that they will be propping up the Championship table by the end of Saturday evening and everyone will be saying that us fans are going to suffer a second consecutive relegation.
I've tipped Preston to go down this year, simply because (St. Ledger aside) I do not see a single standout performer in their team and I think the circumstances around the club (having just recently survived a winding-up order) are almost as bad as those surrounding Pompey.
Darren Ferguson definitely has his work cut out and I believe that if Pompey are to have a comfortable season then we cannot afford to lose this game. That statement seems a bit silly with the campaign only two games old but I'll stick by it should we be on the wrong end of the result tomorrow.
So c'mon Nuge, everyone will forget about those awful misses during the season so far if you can bag a meaningful goal against the club you made a name for yourself!
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Preston
GK: Andy LONERGAN
RB: Billy JONES
CB: Sean ST. LEDGER
CB: Chris MORGAN
LB: Callum DAVIDSON
RM: Paul PARRY
CM: Paul COUTTS
CM: Matty JAMES
LM: Keith TREACY
CF: Jon PARKIN
CF: Paul HAYES
Pompey
GK: Jamie ASHDOWN
RB: Hayden MULLINS
CB: Aaron MOKOENA
CB: Ibrahima SONKO
LB: Carl DICKINSON
CM: Marc WILSON
CM: Michael BROWN
CM: Richard HUGHES
RWF: Tommy SMITH
LWF: Nadir CIFTCI
CF: David NUGENT
Last Time: Preston North End 0 Portsmouth 1 (FA Cup Round 5 - 17/02/2008)
If any game summed up our luck during the 2008 FA Cup run, it would be this one. Having been vastly outplayed by the hosts, who had seen Neil Mellor's penalty saved by David James, most Pompey fans were prepared for a replay.
However, in the last minute of stoppage time, Darren Carter inexplicably lashed the ball into his own net from a corner and Pompey had stolen a victory that would take them into the quarter-finals of the tournament they'd go on to win.
My Prediction
As mentioned earlier, I see this game going one of two ways and I'll be optimistic and plump for the second option. It's about time Dave started paying back the huge transfer fee that was shelled out for him three years ago, and there is no better way to start than against his former club.
Preston North End 0 Portsmouth 1