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Whinger and cheat won't be here
The Fuller situation probably caused them some anguish with the will he go or won’t he go saga going on for weeks and in the end they had to accept the deal because of the player being unable to pass a medical.
Brown made a number of signings during the summer and the first of them was striker Andy Smith who came in from Glentoran. He’s struggled to make the expected impact and recently went out on loan to the Unprofessionals. However he returned to Deepdale after just one game with an injury.
Three more pre-season signings followed. Former Blackburn full-back Callum Davidson, now fully recovered from the Dennis Wise attack, was brought in as a replacement in the squad for the replaced Lee Briscoe.
Our former loan goalkeeper Gavin Ward signed as cover on a 12-month contract and he has made six appearances due to Lonergan’s injury. And finally Youl Mawene, a target for the Clarets, arrived from Derby.
It was Mawene who let Graham Branch in for that all important game against Derby last April that ensured we were safe from relegation.
To add to that they also signed Omar Daly on loan from Hazard for a season. The Jamaican defender was at Reading last season and despite never starting a game for them he did bring about the postponement of our game against them at the Turf because of an international call up.
Many judges were surprised to see Craig Brown start the season but it wasn’t to last long and he was gone by the end of August following a run of three successive league defeats. There was little mourning in Preston and probably there are less people asleep now at any given time.
His assistant Billy Davies took over on a temporary basis and he has since been given the job on a permanent basis. Once confirmed he has also been involved in the transfer market and Fuller’s striker partner David Healy went to cash-strapped Leeds.
His replacement is the former Franchise and Gillingham striker Patrick Agyemang who cost them £350,000 and wide man Chris Sedgwick has recently been added to the squad for £400,000.
Two further loan signings were made with John Curtis and Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu coming in from Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday respectively. Both have since returned to their clubs.
Davies, the former Motherwell boss, has made a steady start and won nine of his first twenty games in charge and his team are currently in 15th place with just one point less than the Clarets.
They had won their two previous games before going to Wigan last week where they were beaten 5-0 in a game which in all honestly they looked capable of winning for the first hour.
Click HERE to see all Preston’s results this season.
Preston have very few injury problems. The game has come a week too early for keeper Lonergan but he, apart from long term injury victim Tyrone Mears, is the only player ruled out.
Youl Mawene has been nursing a hamstring strain but he is expected to be passed fit and the only change Preston are expected to make from the side that lost at Wigan is to bring back Paul McKenna who has completed a suspension.
They should line up:
Jonathan Gould, Graham Alexander, Youl Mawene, Chris Lucketti, Claude Davis, Marlon Broomes, Chris Sedgwick, Brian O’Neil, Paul McKenna, Richard Cresswell, Patrick Agyemang. Subs from: Gavin Ward, Callum Davidson, Dickson Etuhu, Eddie Lewis, Omar Daly, Simon Lynch.
There won’t be much in the way of changes for the Clarets and it is looking more than likely that we will start with the same eleven who came under the cosh at Plymouth a week ago.
John McGreal returned for that match as a substitute but he’s out again after picking up a rather harsh yellow card which was his fifth of the season.
Matt O’Neill is fit to return to the bench, he came through a reserve team game on Wednesday and he could be joined by Micah Hyde who is fit again after recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him off at half time in the win against Nottingham Forest four weeks ago.
Steve Cotterill should name the following side.
Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Gary Cahill, Frank Sinclair, Mo Camara, Lee Roche, James O’Connor, Tony Grant, Graham Branch, Ian Moore, Robbie Blake. Subs: Paul Scott, Joel Pilkington, Micah Hyde, Matt O’Neill, Amadou Sanokho.
Last season’s game was one of controversy with much of it surrounding the cheating Ricardo Fuller. Burnley were much the better side throughout and led 1-0 with a Robbie Blake goal following a mistake from Chris Lucketti.
Fuller was fortunate to still be on the field by then after one or two totally unnecessary clashes but his behaviour deteriorated in the second half. He blatantly dived to con referee David Pugh who awarded the penalty from which they got their equaliser.
Pugh was the only person in town who couldn’t see it for what it was, Weary Whinger excepted, but it earned Preston an undeserved point.
Fuller eventually got what was coming to him, some eighty minutes too late, when he lashed out at Glen Little after performing his circus trick (something else that WW didn’t see) and was finally sent off.
Fuller left a bad taste in the mouth and it is good news that the Jamaican striker won’t be around Turf Moor tomorrow.
The teams last March were,
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Dean West, Mark McGregor, David May, Mo Camara, Glen Little, Richard Chaplow, Tony Grant, Graham Branch (Alan Moore 79), Robbie Blake, Ian Moore. Subs not used: Nathan Abbey, Ryan Townsend, Paul Scott, Marc Pugh.
Preston: Andy Lonergan, Graham Alexander, Michael Jackson, Chris Lucketti (Eddie Lewis 45), Rob Edwards, David Healy, Dickson Etuhu (Alan McCormack 55), Michael Keane (Simon Lynch 82), Tyrone Mears, Ricardo Fuller, Richard Cresswell. Subs not used: David Lucas, Jeff Smith.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1984/85 | 3 | a | 3-3 | 4,995 | Biggins(2) Whatmore |
| . | . | h | 2-0 | 4,768 | Scott Biggins |
1985/86 | 4 | a | 0-1 | 5,585 | . |
| . | . | h | 1-1 | 3,835 | Deakin |
1986/87 | 4 | h | 1-4 | 5,974 | James(pen) |
| . | . | a | 1-2 | 10,716 | Parker |
1987/88 | SV | h | 0-0 | 15,680 | . |
| . | . | a | 3-1aet | 17,592 | Oghani Hoskin Comstive |
1989/90 | LD | a | 0-3 | 5,241 | . |
1990/91 | LD | a | 1-6 | 12,016 | Bray |
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 | . |
| . | . | 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 |
Click HERE
to see all our results against Preston, right back to the opening day of the Football League in 1888.