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Burnley still have strong hopes of reaching the top six this season and having another crack at the end of season play offs. It's a tough ask, even though we do have the same number of points as two seasons ago.
It was just a few days later than this in 2009 that we won a crucial game at Blackpool and now, if we are to have any designs on a top six place, we need to be going to Deepdale and looking to do just the same against a Preston side who are currently in bottom place.
It won't be an easy game, of that there's no doubt. Some of the comments I've read this week leads to believe that some supporters think all we have to do is turn up, but that is definitely not the case and this will be a difficult game for us.
We don't often win at Deepdale. There was that wonderful night we reached Wembley in the Sherpa Van Trophy but in league games we've won there only three times since North End departed the old first division in 1961.
Those wins have come in the 1971/72, 1997/98 and 2001/02 seasons. That last win (by a 3-2 scoreline) was the day Arthur Gnohere was crowned. We won 3-2 with Arthur scoring his first two Burnley goals and Glen Little getting one between them.
Now, in front of some five and a half thousand Clarets, we need to go there and bring all three points home with us.
Preston and Burnley have been evenly matched for most of the last decade and a half. Until our promotion in 2009 we'd been in the same division since 1996. In those thirteen seasons though it was North End who came out on top most often and they ended all but four of those seasons in a higher position in the table.
They've reached the play offs four times in the last decade but, whilst we won at the first attempt, they've failed on all four occasions and have now seen both us and then Blackpool go into the Premier League ahead of them.
They were in the play offs with us in 2009 but last season saw a decline with a 17th place finish and now they are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league after ten years at this level.
There's no doubt they've picked up recently and have drawn their last three games against Watford, QPR and Nottingham Forest. Manager Phil Brown has been issuing the rallying cries all week and their confidence will have been lifted by that late equaliser at Forest. They are going to make it a tough afternoon for us.
Jon Parkin is their leading goalscorer in the league with seven goals, including their third at the Turf earlier in the season, but he's a Cardiff player now so of their current players the leading scorers are Billy Jones and Iain Hume who both have five goals.
There has been some good news for Phil Brown with both Iain Hume and Chris Brown having returned to training. Hume hasn't played in the first team since the defeat at Barnsley on 1st February whilst Brown has been out since their FA Cup 3rd round defeat to Nottingham Forest.
With those two back it gives them a virtually full squad to select from although there will be one player missing - central defender Leon Cort. Cort has played eleven times for them and has been something of a lucky omen with only three defeats in those games.
He's now on loan at Preston for the remainder of the season but he must sit this one out as Burnley have not given him permission to play.
They are expected to line up: Iain Turner, David Gray, Sean St. Ledger, Wayne Brown, Billy Jones, Barry Nicholson, Ian Ashbee, Paul Coutts, Keith Treacy, Nathan Ellington, Eddie Johnson. Subs from: Andy Lonergan, Craig Morgan, Paul Hayes, Adam Barton, Paul Parry, Leon Clarke, Darren Carter, Chris Brown, Iain Hume.
Burnley can welcome both Charlie Austin and Marvin Bartley back into the squad after both were cup tied and unable to play a part at West Ham on Monday. They both played in the reserves at Shrewsbury on Wednesday with Bartley playing the full game and Austin getting in 75 minutes.
Eddie Howe has now been in charge for eight games and nine players have been ever presents. They are goalkeeper Lee Grant, the entire back four, midfielders Jack Cork and Dean Marney plus both Chris Eagles and Jay Rodriguez.
Much has been said about the five goals conceded at West Ham but Howe was quick to come out and back his defence and I wouldn't envisage any changes in that area and I'd expect all of those nine ever presents to be in the starting line up.
That means the other two places are up for grabs. Ross Wallace and Wade Elliott got the shirts on Monday whilst the places have also been taken by Chris Iwelumo, Steven Thompson and Austin in previous games.
It's a guessing game for these two positions but I have an inkling that they could go to Wallace and Iwelumo tomorrow. Wallace will want to impress against his former club whilst Iwelumo has scored two hat tricks against Preston. One was in the 4-3 win earlier this season, the other was at Deepdale for Wolves in a 3-1 win in September 2008 although he was also, wrongly, sent off by referee Martin Atkinson as was Wolves' keeper Wayne Hennessey.
Burnley's team could be: Lee Grant, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Michael Duff, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Dean Marney, Chris Eagles, Ross Wallace, Chris Iwelumo, Jay Rodriguez. Subs from : Brian Jensen, David Edgar, Andre Bikey, Brian Easton, Graham Alexander, Marvin Bartley, Wade Elliott, Steven Thompson, Charlie Austin.
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We'd won that game but the league form was a worry and another defeat here took that run to four (it ended with five defeats) but this one was so undeserved as we fell victim to players only too eager to go down and cheat and a referee who, like many we've had at Deepdale in recent years, handed it to them on a plate with two shocking penalty awards.
The first half hadn't been anything to write home about and it was goalless at half time. We'd been the better of the two sides and when we stepped things up at the start of the second half a win looked on the cards.
Then, Stephen Elliott got on the ball in our box. As Brian Jensen came out he went down long before getting close to our keeper. It should, without question, have been a yellow card for the Preston forward. Instead the incompetent Paul Taylor pointed to the spot and we were a goal down.
We fought our way back into the game and we made a couple of substitutions. One was to bring on Robbie Blake who amazingly wasn't in the side. He soon brought us level with an astonishing free kick from 30 yards that Andy Lonergan didn't have a hope of keeping out. Thankfully, it probably earned Robbie a place in the Spurs match coming up in the following week.
At 1-1 all good money was on Burnley but we'd reckoned without referee Taylor. As a ball was played in to our box, Jon Parkin pulled on Steven Caldwell's arm. It was a clear foul as the ball hit his arm but Taylor appallingly pointed to the spot again.
They scored and that was it - a 2-1 defeat - but it was an unjust scoreline brought about by bad decisions from the referee. It was almost as bad as 2005 when Graham Laws handed the game to Preston with a ridiculous stoppage time penalty.
The Burnley camp were fuming at the end of the game, and with some justification. It didn't make any difference though, we'd lost the game.
The teams were;
Preston: Andy Lonergan, Billy Jones, Sean St. Ledger, Youl Mawene, Callum Davidson, Chris Sedgwick, Richard Chaplow (Barry Nicholson 81), Paul McKenna, Ross Wallace, Stephen Elliott (Neil Mellor 84), Jon Parkin. Subs not used: Chris Neal, Eddie Nolan, Chris Brown.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Chris Eagles, Joey Gudjonsson (Robbie Blake 66), Chris McCann, Steven Thompson (Jay Rodriguez 76), Martin Paterson. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Alan Mahon, Alex MacDonald.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1992/93 | 2 | a | 0-2 | 7,209 | . |
| . | . | h | 2-0 | 12,648 | Heath(2) |
1993/94 | LC | a | 2-1 | 6,283 | Davis Eyres |
. | . | h | 4-1 | 9,346 | Deary Eyres Francis Russell |
. | AG | a | 1-2 | 4,485 | Eyres |
1996/97 | 2 | a | 1-1 | 12,652 | Nogan |
| . | . | h | 1-2 | 16,186 | Barnes |
1997/98 | 2 | h | 1-1 | 13,809 | Cooke |
. | . | a | 3-2 | 12,263 | Payton Cooke N Moore |
. | AW | h | 1-0 | 10,079 | Payton |
1998/99 | 2 | a | 1-4 | 15,888 | Eastwood |
| . | AW | h | 0-1 | 3,366 | . |
| . | 2 | h | 0-1 | 11,561 | . |
1999/2000 | 2 | a | 0-0 | 13,708 | . |
| . | . | h | 0-3 | 22,310 | . |
2000/01 | 1 | a | 1-2 | 17,355 | Moore |
| . | . | h | 3-0 | 16,591 | Moore Ball Little |
2001/02 | 1 | a | 3-2 | 20,370 | Gnohere(2) Little |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 18,388 | I Moore Johnson |
2002/03 | 1 | a | 1-3 | 16,046 | Taylor |
| . | . | h | 2-0 | 12,245 | Blake Papadopoulos |
2003/04 | 1 | a | 3-5 | 18,802 | I Moore Gnohere Blake(pen) |
| . | . | h | 1-1 | 15,837 | Blake |
2004/05 | C | h | 2-0 | 15,318 | Blake(2) |
| . | . | a | 0-1 | 18,202 | . |
2005/06 | C | a | 0-0 | 17,139 | . |
| . | . | h | 0-2 | 17,220 | . |
2006/07 | C | h | 3-2 | 14,871 | J O'Connor St. Ledger(og) Gray |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 17,666 | . |
2007/08 | C | h | 2-3 | 14,829 | Lafferty McCann |
| . | . | a | 1-2 | 16,149 | J O'Connor |
2008/09 | C | h | 3-1 | 16,276 | Gudjonsson Caldwell Eagles |
| . | . | a | 1-2 | 15,692 | Blake |
2010/11 | C | h | 4-3 | 15,509 | Iwelumo(3) Rodriguez |