Preview | Preston North End (H)
The Game
Argyle v Preston North End. Home Park. Saturday, 26 October. 3pm. Sky Bet Championship.
The Opposition
Preston are in 16th place in the Championship table, with 13 points from 11 games. PNE began with defeats to Sheffield United and Swansea City before picking up their first victory of the season, winning 1-0 at home to Luton Town.
Sandwiched between 3-1 defeats at Oxford United and Millwall were draws with Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers. Preston have been unbeaten in four since then, winning 3-0 at home to Watford, drawing 0-0 at Burnley, then keeping a third clean sheet in a row when beating Coventry City 1-0.
Most recently, on Tuesday night, Preston found themselves 2-0 up after 12 minutes at home to Norwich City, but the game finished 2-2.
The Gaffer
Paul Heckingbottom, 47, came into management with a prestigious playing career behind him, representing the likes of Sunderland, Norwich City, Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday, and Barnsley.
His first job as a coach was at Barnsley, stepping in on two occasions as caretaker manager. On the second occasion, he guided the Tykes to promotion to the Championship as well as the EFL Trophy. These achievements meant Heckingbottom was awarded the job permanently.
After a strong start to the following campaign, he was poached by Leeds United to become their Head Coach in February 2018. After just four months at Elland Road, he was sacked, with the club finishing 13th.
Heckingbottom headed north of the border and took charge at Hibernian. After a strong first season in Scotland, Hibs struggled the following year, and Heckingbottom was sacked four months into the season.
Next, he headed to Sheffield United and was appointed Head Coach of their Under-23 side. After an impressive interim spell in charge at Bramall Lane, Heckingbottom was given the job permanently the following season and led the Blades to promotion to the Premier League the season after. After a poor start to the campaign, he was sacked in December 2023. Heckingbottom took over at Preston in the summer of 2024.
The Squad
Andrew Hughes is the only Preston outfield player to have started every league game this season. The 32-year-old is on well over 200 appearances for Preston having signed from Peterborough United in 2018. He has shared his playing time between playing at centre-back and left-back so far this season.
Former Argyle loan player Kaine Kesler-Hayden (below) has played in PNE’s last three games, at right-back or right wing-back. He has started six times for North End this season, coming on as a sub in a further three games. Still an Aston Villa player, Kesler-Hayden is on his fifth loan out from his parent club, having also spent time with Swindon Town, Milton Keynes Dons and Huddersfield, before playing 27 times for Argyle last season.
The Preston midfield will likely be anchored by Ben Whiteman. The 28-year-old arrived at Deepdale in January 2021 from Doncaster Rovers for a reported £1.6 million fee. He came through the ranks at Manchester United before signing for Sheffield United at 16. After failing to break through at Bramall Lane, Whiteman spent time on loan at Mansfield Town and Doncaster, and it would be with the latter that he signed permanently in January 2018. He went on to make 159 appearances for Rovers, becoming their club captain before his move to Preston.
Last Season’s Meetings
Preston won both of last season’s encounters between the sides. At Deepdale in September PNE won 2-1, with goals from Duane Holmes and Liam Millar putting them 2-0 up. Ryan Hardie scored on the hour, but Argyle could not make their second-half pressure pay. At Home Park, Preston won 1-0, with Millar scoring the game’s only goal.
Tickets
The game is sold out for home supporters. If you have a season ticket and cannot attend the match, you can make your ticket available via the Ticket Exchange and receive face value credit if your ticket is resold. Find out more about the Ticket Exchange.
Argyle TV
Argyle TV’s coverage will begin at 10am, with the Argyle Breakfast show, hosted by Erin Black and Aaron Cusack. They will bring you build-up, interviews, guests and features throughout the morning, from the Argyle TV studio.
Erin, and Ian Stonebridge, will return at 2.30pm for the pre-match show, live on YouTube from pitchside, as the atmosphere for the fixture builds. Commentary for the game will be provided by Rob McNichol and Katie Middleton.
Match passes to watch this game are available to international audiences and can be purchased here.
