Preston North End (H) Houghton's Preview

When Preston North End visit Home Park on Saturday, it will be the first time their manager Ryan Lowe will have returned since his departure just over two years ago.

Lowe was the Argyle manager from June 2019 to December 2021. He presided over a promotion season from Sky Bet League Two during his tenure and, notably, he signed several of the current Argyle squad, and nurtured others.

Michael Cooper was made Argyle’s number one goalkeeper by Lowe, and Adam Randell began to feature in squads during his tenure.

Joe Edwards, Ryan Hardie, Dan Scarr, Callum Burton and Brendan Galloway were all signed for Argyle by Lowe, as was Jordan Houghton, who spoke ahead of Saturday’s game about his memories of playing for the man now in charge of the weekend’s visitors.

“We’re looking forward to the game,” said Houghton. “There's a little bit on it for a few of the lads, and the fans as well with old manager coming back. I'm sure there'll be a lot of excitement around the game.

“He brought me to the club, and I've had so much success here. That wasn't with him, because it was a short spell that he was he was here, but I’m very grateful for him for bringing me to this great club.

“I really enjoyed my time under him. He's a very good man manager and motivator.

“We've moved on now, with another new manager, and we’re looking forward to the coming games with him.”

Argyle come into the Preston game on the back of a trip last weekend to a town the other side of the M6, at Blackburn Rovers.

It was a visit to Ewood Park that yielded some mixed feelings. Argyle played very well, controlling the game, lifting their performances levels above the recent standard, but were unable to get the victory on the day, leaving with a point from a 1-1 draw.

Houghton says there was frustration within the dressing room at not generating maximum points at Blackburn, but wants to keep performance levels high, and he knows that accumulating points sooner rather than later will help as the season goes on.

“The lads were disappointed with the Blackburn game,” said Jordan. “I think it was a big opportunity missed in terms of not grabbing the three points. Although the performance I thought was very good, we were disappointed in the end not to come away with three points.

“I suppose, away from home, it was a good point in the end. We would have liked the three points, especially the way we played.

“Now, it puts a little bit more pressure maybe on us with this game, but we can handle that pressure. I'm sure we can build on the performance from last week, put in another good performance and look for the three points.

“Last season does help in terms of pressure and the fans’ expectations. It’s slightly different this time with a different prize as such at the end of it. I want to get the team in a place where we don't come into those last few games, and they are must-win games. That's when the real pressure comes on.

“Hopefully we can keep the performances coming, keep the points ticking over and get to a point at the end of the season where that pressure isn't on us.”