Preston North End vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance17,509.
Friday 15 March 2019 10:24, UK
Preston defender Darnell Fisher is back after a ban for Saturday's clash with Birmingham at Deepdale.
The right-back missed the win at Middlesbrough on Wednesday night but will battle with Joe Rafferty for his place. Alan Browne will be assessed but Tom Barkhuizen, Brad Potts and skipper Tom Clarke should be available after niggles.
Callum Robinson and Louis Moult have stepped up their recoveries from hamstring injuries and may return but Billy Bodin and Josh Harrop (both knee) and Connor Ripley (ankle) are out.
Maxime Colin is likely to return for Birmingham after the international break having missed the last two games with a tight hamstring. Lukas Jutkiewicz, Jota and Jacques Maghoma may all return after being substitutes in Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Millwall.
Boss Gary Monk opted to shuffle his pack against the Lions and will be expected to make changes again on Saturday. Injured pair Marc Roberts and Charlie Lakin are likely to miss out for the Blues.
Preston have lost one of their last 12 home matches against Birmingham in all competitions (W7 D4), a 0-2 defeat in February 2001.
Birmingham are looking to complete a league double over Preston for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Since the start of October, only the current top three (Norwich, Leeds and Sheffield United) have won more Championship points than Preston North End (49).
Garry Monk has never lost a Championship encounter with Preston (P4 W3 D1 L0), with his only game at Deepdale in that time a 4-1 victory with Leeds United in December 2016.
Preston are unbeaten in 11 Championship matches (W7 D4 L0) - the longest current run in the division.
Birmingham striker Che Adams has scored three goals in his last four league appearances against Preston.
Preston are right up there in the play-off battle now. 11 unbeaten has seen them move up to ninth, and just two points off the top six heading into the weekend.
Birmingham, meanwhile, have lost three in a row and are struggling for any kind of form. Preston should claim the three points here.
David Prutton predicts: 2-1 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
