Preview: Preston North End vs Millwall - prediction, team news, lineups

Millwall travel to Deepdale to face Preston North End on Saturday afternoon looking for the win that will keep them in contention for automatic promotion.

At a time when the Lions sit in third position in the Championship table, Preston have recently dropped down to ninth place.

Match preview

Alex Neil takes Millwall to the home ground of his former club with expectations continue to grow at The Den.

A 16-point return from eight matches has left the Lions in third spot, just four points adrift of second-placed Middlesbrough.

While there was frustration over losing 3-1 at home to Portsmouth last week, Millwall bounced back with a 3-0 triumph over Birmingham City in East London.

There is now a nine-point advantage over seventh place, with everyone associated with Millwall now expecting a playoff place as a bare minimum.

Millwall take on Preston holding the fifth-best away record in the division, accumulating 26 points and conceding just 19 goals across 16 games.

However, two of their four defeats have come since December 20, losing to Blackburn Rovers and Coventry City respectively.

Meanwhile, Paul Heckingbottom has struggled to hide his anger in recent games, with his Preston side conceding deep into added-on time in consecutive matches.

After shipping a 94th-minute winner to lose the derby to Blackburn Rovers, Preston let in an equaliser at Swansea City on Tuesday night in the same minute.

Dropping three points in those circumstances has left Preston sitting five points adrift of the playoff spots.

Furthermore, just one win has been posted in nine outings in all competitions, but Preston have suffered just four defeats in their 17 games at Deepdale.

That said, only 22 goals have been netted in those fixtures, a return that must improve if they wish to stay in the playoff hunt.

Preston North End Championship form:

L D W D L D

Millwall Championship form:

W D W W L W

Team News

If Heckingbottom freshens up his Preston XI, Alfie Devine and Milutin Osmajic are most likely to return in midfield and attack respectively.

However, the likes of Liam Lindsay, Robbie Brady and Brad Potts may remain on the substitutes' bench after their recent return to the squad.

Meanwhile, Millwall boss Neil could potentially select the same starting lineup from the Birmingham fixture.

While Alfie Doughty is an option to return at left-back, Zak Sturge took his opportunity in midweek.

Mihailo Ivanovic could also get the nod over Josh Coburn, although the latter has netted three times in eight appearances since his return from injury.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Cornell; Offiah, Gibson, Hughes; Valentin, Whiteman, Devine, Vukcevic; Lang; Osmajic, Jebbison

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Patterson; Leonard, Crama, Cooper, Sturge; De Norre, Mitchell; Azeez, Langstaff, Neghli; Coburn

We say: Preston North End 1-1 Millwall

With conceding late goals having become the theme of the last week, Heckingbottom will be wary of a similar setback against one of the division's strongest teams. Nevertheless, we are backing Preston to add another draw to their home record to dent Millwall's hopes of automatic promotion.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.