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

Preston North End play host to Swansea City on Wednesday looking for the win that would keep the club in the top six of the Championship table.

Meanwhile, Swansea start the week in 16th position in the standings, despite their recent upturn in form in the second tier.

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Match preview

There was a time not so long ago when Paul Heckingbottom would have felt that his Preston side were capitulating after their strong start to the season.

After back-to-back defeats to West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, Preston found themselves 2-0 down to Heckingbottom's former club at Deepdale.

However, North End pulled off a rousing comeback either side of half time to emerge 3-2 victors, that result getting Preston back on track ahead of the long trip to Southampton.

With just one win from five away fixtures, Preston were the underdogs despite Southampton's indifferent form, but goals from Lewis Dobbin and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen earned a 2-0 win at St Mary's.

Defeats for each of Coventry City and Middlesbrough have ensured that Preston now sit within six points of top spot at a time when they have collected 14 points from seven home fixtures, losing just the once.

Meanwhile, Alan Sheehan will be relieved to have witnessed his Swansea side produce their best week of football for some time after a period of inconsistency.

Either side of their last two Championship matches, Swansea led Manchester City in the EFL Cup fourth round before ultimately losing by a 3-1 scoreline. Nevertheless, it highlighted that the Welsh side were turning a corner.

Prior to that fixture, Swansea had overcame Norwich City on home territory, ending a three-game winless streak in the league before a difficult-looking trip to Charlton Athletic.

For the first time since the end of September, Swansea would go two matches without suffering a defeat after Adam Idah's second-half leveller earned a 1-1 draw at The Valley.

Now sitting just five points adrift of their hosts, the door is ajar for Swansea to catapult themselves back into playoff contention.

Preston North End Championship form:

D W L L W W

Swansea City form (all competitions):

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Team News

With Harrison Armstrong picking up a knock against Southampton, Stefan Thordarson and Frokjaer-Jensen are both pushing for recalls in central midfield.

Jamal Lewis has just signed for Preston, but the left wing-back will be given time to get up to speed before starting a game.

As a result of the treatment room being heavily-populated, Heckingbottom may resist any temptation to make further changes.

Swansea are expected to remain without Marko Stamenic, Malick Yalcouye and Zan Vipotnik due to personal reasons, suspension and injury respectively.

Goncalo Franco is also a fitness doubt with Jay Fulton to standby to replace him in midfield if required.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Offiah, Devine, Whiteman, Thordarson, Small; Osmajic, Dobbin

Swansea City possible starting lineup:

Vigouroux; Key, Cabango, Casey, Burgess, Tymon; Ronald, Fulton, Galbraith, Eom; Idah

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We say: Preston North End 2-1 Swansea City

 

With Swansea having improved over the past 10 days, they will back themselves to earn at least a share of the spoils at Deepdale. However, we are backing Preston to come through by the odd goal in three to remain as one of the surprise packages in the division.

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

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