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

After suffering a heavy defeat to Ipswich Town on Saturday, Championship leaders Coventry City will look to return to winning ways when they take on Preston North End in Tuesday's clash at Deepdale.

Meanwhile, Preston will be aiming to make it three games without defeat after taking five points from their last three matches.

Match preview

Preston North End are firmly in the race for a top-six finish, with Paul Heckingbottom's side sitting in fifth spot after collecting 31 points from their 19 league outings.

PNE have proven to be a tough team to beat in recent times, having lost just one of their previous eight matches (W4, D3).

They have taken five points from three matches since losing 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers in November's Lancashire derby.

After playing out a draw with Sheffield Wednesday, PNE went on to claim a 3-2 away victory over Sheffield Wednesday before rescuing a point from Saturday's home meeting with Wrexham, with Harrison Armstrong netting an 81st-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw.

Preston are now preparing for a tough test against the league leaders, but they may fancy their chances of claiming all three points after winning four of their last five home meetings with Coventry, including a narrow 1-0 success in last season's clash at Deepdale.

Coventry will enter Tuesday's contest on the back of a defeat after their five-game winning run came to an end with a disappointing trip to Portman Road on Saturday.

Ipswich's Sindre Walle Egeli, George Hirst and Ivan Azon all found the net to condemn the Sky Blues to a heavy 3-0 loss, representing just their second defeat of the Championship season.

Frank Lampard's charges still enjoy a healthy lead at the top of the standings, boasting a seven-point advantage over second-placed Middlesbrough and a nine-point cushion to Millwall in third position.

The Sky Blues will look to get their promotion bid back on track with a win on Tuesday, although that will be easier said than done for a club that have not beaten Preston in an away game since a 3-1 success in the EFL Cup in September 2000.

They may be able to take some confidence from the fact that they recorded their first head-to-head victory at any venue for 12 years in February's 2-1 home victory.

Preston North End Championship form:

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Coventry City Championship form:

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Team News

The hosts will head into the midweek fixtures without Robbie Brady, Jamal Lewis, Ali McCann, Brad Potts, Lewis Gibson and Milutin Osmajic.

Mads Frojkaer-Jensen will be looking to prove his fitness in time for Tuesday’s contest after sitting out the draw with Wrexham with a knock.

Odeluga Offiah, Daniel Jebbison and Armstrong are all in contention to come into the Preston starting lineup.

As for the visitors, Brandon Thomas-Asante will be out for six weeks after picking up a hamstring injury in last month’s win over Middlesbrough.

Goalkeeper Oliver Dovin remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury, while it remains to be seen whether Tatsuhiro Sakamoto will be available after missing the last two games due to concussion protocols.

Midfielder Victor Torp sat out Saturday’s defeat against Ipswich, making him a doubt for Tuesday’s away clash.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Offiah, Whiteman, Armstrong, Small; Devine; Jebbison, Smith

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Eccles, Grimes; Kesler-Hayden, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Simms

We say: Preston North End 1-1 Coventry City

Coventry will be keen to bounce back from the Ipswich defeat with a victorious trip to Deepdale, but we think that will be difficult as the Sky Blues tend to struggle in away games against Preston, who have proven to be a tough team to beat in recent games.

As a result, we believe the home side will do enough to hold the Championship leaders to a draw.

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