Sat 29 Jul - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 2mins
Less than a week is all that separates Derby County from the start of their Sky Bet Championship season.
Pre-season has flown by and the Rams face TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in their final friendly match before preparations intensify for next Friday’s trip to Sunderland.
Inbetween that, we have been counting down the days by profiling all of the clubs that Gary Rowett’s side will come up against over the forthcoming campaign.
Next up, is a side that continues to show progress year on year…
Manager: Alex Neil
Nickname: The Lilywhites
Stadium Capacity: 23,404
Finishing Place Last Season: 11th (62 Points)
Top Scorer (2016/17): Jordan Hugill (12 Goals)
Promotion Odds (According to Coral): 12/1
Home – Tuesday 15th August 2017 (kick-off: 7:45pm)
Away – Monday 2nd April 2018 (kick-off: 3pm)
Preston North End 0-1 Derby County
Derby County 1-1 Preston North End
When you look at Preston North End’s finishing position last season, you see another credible midtable finish.
It doesn’t tell the whole story, though.
In fact, with Simon Grayson in charge, the Lilywhites gave the Sky Bet Championship’s top six one all mighty fright.
Heading into the international break, Preston looked like a side that was going to be battling against relegation, but from the 23rd of September up until the end of January, they lost just three games and shot up the league table.
The Lilywhites were just four points off the play-off positions at this point.
By the end of February, they were still above the Rams and sat eighth – still firmly in the play-off picture heading into the 10 games of the campaign.
In early April, a stunning 5-0 win over Bristol City left them five points off the top six. The twist came at this point and Preston just couldn’t maintain their momentum and five defeats and a draw from their final six matches left them with an eleventh place.
Nevertheless, Preston have proved they are more than capable of mixing it with the Championship’s best, with 2016/17 serving as a marked progress.
Now, though, they are venturing into a new era.
With Grayson having recently departed for pastures new with Sunderland, Alex Neil is the man being tasked to take Preston even closer to the play-off positions over 2017/18 and with the bulk of the squad still intact, they have everything in place to do it.
