A disappointing 2-0 defeat at home against Reading on Sunday afternoon resulted in Preston dropping out of the play-off pack and into 7th place and it’s now three league matches without a win for Alex Neil’s side in the Championship ahead of the New Years Day action.
Back-to-back draws away from home with Cardiff City 0-0 and a decent point at Leeds United in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road are still considered good results though, and Preston have another chance to redeem themselves at Deepdale when they play host to a seemingly rejuvenated Middlesbrough outfit.
Form at home has been very good so far this season for Preston North End who have gained the highest number of wins at home in the Championship to date this season with 9 victories under their belts, so perhaps the loss to Reading was more of a one-off.
An earlier defeat to West Brom was perhaps understandable but Preston will be hoping they can return to the type of form they displayed when they gained recent wins over Huddersfield Town, Fulham and Luton Town in this upcoming clash.
Onto Middlesbrough, and the visitors will be hoping lightning can strike twice on New Years Day as they prepare to hit the road again for this encounter at Deepdale against Preston, and looking to capture a fourth league win on the trot.
Undoubtedly, Middlesbrough pulled off the result of this round of fixtures when they recorded a vital 2-0 win away from home against West Brom at The Hawthorns which has helped lift Boro up into a more respectable looking 16th place in the Championship.
But have Middlesbrough turned a corner under Jonathan Woodgate on the road? Boro have still only won 1 of their previous 12 matches on their travels, drawing 5 and losing 6 of the other 11 matches they’ve played on the road to date.
The visitors have won only 3 of their previous 18 matches away from home in the Championship, so Middlesbrough still have a lot of hard work ahead of them to prove that they can grind out results on the road on a regular basis and this clash with Preston will be a good marker to see how far Woodgate’s revival has come.
That said, Preston have been impressive overall at home and they should grind out a win here.