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

Stockport County and Preston North End conclude their pre-season campaign with a friendly at Edgeley Park on Saturday afternoon.

This game takes place before the start of the EFL Cup, where Stockport face Doncaster Rovers and Preston go up against Huddersfield Town.

Match preview

With David Challinor's long era at Stockport having come to a conclusion, former player Jimmy McNulty has been appointed as his successor.

McNulty spent the 2008-09 campaign at Edgeley Park, but he has since made a name for himself as a manager at Rochdale.

Eleventh and fourth-placed finishes in the National League were followed by runners-up in 2025-26, before Rochdale beat Boreham Wood in the playoff final.

He now gets an opportunity with a Stockport squad that lost in the League One playoff final, and the Hatters will be viewed as one of the title favourites.

In their two official friendlies, Stockport have recorded a 2-0 win over Bristol City and, on Tuesday, a 1-0 success at Oldham Athletic.

Preston's pre-season got off to a positive start as they cruised to a 4-1 victory at Bamber Bridge.

However, Paul Heckingbottom has since overseen three defeats in a row to Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge United and Bradford City.

The games with Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford ended in 3-2 defeats, and Heckingbottom needs to see quick improvements in defence.

As it stands, only two fresh faces - Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Lee Nicholls and Genk forward Jusef Erabi - have joined the squad.

Stockport County form (friendlies):

W W

Preston North End form (friendlies):

W L L L

Team News

Malik Mothersille will hope that his winning goal at Oldham has increased his chances of a recall to the Stockport XI.

Former Derby County midfielder Ben Osborn could remain on the substitutes' bench after his arrival earlier this week.

Ex Manchester United and Hull City youngster Harry Wood is an option in midfield after signing from Shelbourne.

Lewis Gibson, Ben Whiteman and Alfie Devine are all pushing for a recall to the Preston side.

With all but one player featuring for more than 70 minutes versus Bradford, Heckingbottom could make further changes.

Stockport County possible starting lineup:

Whatmuff; Gordon, O’Connell, Pye; Edun, Bate, Norwood, Glover; Wood, Diamond; Wootton

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Nicholls; Hughes, Lindsay, Gibson; Valentin, McCann, Whiteman, Devine, Vukcevic; Lang, Osmajic

We say: Stockport County 2-1 Preston North End

With the two teams likely to name strong XIs, we expect a competitive encounter. Although Preston are in the division above, the form of the two teams suggests that Stockport could run out victors in this contest.

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