Preston North End’s hopes of a place in the play-off pack have taken a huge dent as they’ve suffered four defeats on the trot in recent weeks in the Championship having lost to Reading, Sheffield United, Leeds United and West Brom.
This recent and sudden downturn in form has seen Alex Neil’s side drop down the league table to a disappointing mid-table position of 12th place after seeming to promise so much earlier in the season.
Preston now trail 6th placed Bristol City by eight points and with time fast running out, Good Friday’s hosts now must beat visitors Ipswich Town at Deepdale in this encounter to have any chance of keeping their slim hopes of a top six finish alive here.
Prior to this sudden slump, Preston had put together a very strong and promising 12-match unbeaten sequence in the second tier and many people were wondering if Preston could keep this momentum going and make a late surge for a play-off spot.
Preston were also unbeaten seven matches prior to facing the top two clubs, Norwich City and Leeds United, but the visit of bottom club Ipswich Town could be the perfect tonic for the hosts and indeed make it a very Good Friday.
Onto Ipswich Town, and the Tractor Boys gained another point in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City which further extended Ipswich’s total of stalemates during this campaign to a staggering 16 draws.
Having drawn four of their last six matches at Portman Road, we shouldn’t be too surprised that Ipswich produced another draw which takes their total on home turf to 11 this season, but form away from home has been very ordinary to say the least during what has been a pretty woeful campaign for the East Anglian outfit.
Ipswich have recorded just two away wins all season, and although their best chances of getting anything at Deepdale seems to be a draw, they head up to Lancashire on the back of a 2-0 defeat away at Brentford last time out on their travels.
Wins at Swansea City and Bolton Wanderers have been scant reward indeed for Paul Lambert’s side who have struggled to find the back of the net throughout the season on their travels, failing to score in 12 of their 21 away matches to date.
Preston must take all three points here to keep a possible top six finish on the cards while down-and-out Ipswich may struggle to score again here.