Two closely-matched sides will go head-to-head when Preston North End welcome Millwall to Deepdale for Tuesday's Championship encounter.
The hosts occupy 15th position in the Championship standings with 41 points to their name, while the Lions are sitting one place behind in 14th spot due to their goal difference advantage, with seven points separating the two sides from the playoff places.
Match preview
© Imago
Preston have proven to be a tough team to beat in recent times, having lost just one of their previous nine matches in all competitions, with their only defeat in that period taking place against Blackburn Rovers at the end of January.
The Lilywhites bounced back with a penalty-shootout win over Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup, before they recorded a narrow 1-0 victory in their away league clash against Norwich City.
They recorded a third straight competitive clean sheet in Saturday's goalless draw against promotion hopefuls Burnley, although the game was overshadowed by an incident in the second period involving Milutin Osmajic and Hannibal Mejbri.
An FA investigation is now underway after Hannibal alleged that he had been subjected to racist abuse from Osmajic, while the Preston forward has "strongly refuted the claims" as Preston released a statement to confirm that they were aware of the complaint.
With the investigation ongoing, Osmajic will be available for Tuesday's Championship fixture against Millwall, with Paul Heckingbottom's side looking to extend their unbeaten home run to 12 competitive matches.
Preston may need to draw upon their home advantage as much as possible given the fact that they have not beaten Millwall since recording a 3-1 away victory in February 2019.
© Imago
Millwall travel to Deepdale with hopes of returning to winning ways after taking just one point from their last two matches.
The Lions saw their three-game winning league run come to an end with a demoralising 5-1 away defeat against relegation-threatened Plymouth Argyle.
They then had to settle for a point in Saturday's home clash against West Bromwich Albion after Joe Bryan, unfortunately, put the ball in his own net for the second game in a row, cancelling out Jake Cooper's 19th-minute opener at The Den.
Alex Neil's side will now head on their travels for the first time since their heavy loss in Devon, but they can still take some confidence from the fact that they avoided defeat in each of their four away league matches before they faced Plymouth.
They will also draw inspiration from their impressive record against Preston, having won seven and drawn four of their previous 11 head-to-head meetings.
The Lions have the chance to complete a league double over the Lilywhite after running out 3-1 winners in September's reverse fixture thanks to goals from George Honeyman, Romain Esse and Macaulay Langstaff.
Team News
© Imago
Preston midfielder Duane Holmes will be out until April with a fractured fibula that he suffered in an away meeting with Norwich earlier this month.
Holmes is joined in the treatment room by Jack Whatmough, Jordan Storey and Ben Whiteman, although Preston will be boosted by the return of Ali McCann, who has served a two-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
Robbie Brady and Emil Riis are likely to be on the bench after returning from injury to feature as a substitute in Saturday's draw.
As for the visitors, they are expected to be without the services of Ryan Leonard, Danny McNamara, Calum Scanlon and Josh Coburn.
Midfielder George Saville and winger Camiel Neghli are in contention for recalls after dropping down to the bench at the weekend.
Aidomo Emakhu returned from a spell on the sidelines to be an unused substitute at The Hawthorns, and he will provide a useful option off the bench for Tuesday's away fixture.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Porteous, Gibson, Hughes; Kesler-Hayden, Potts, Ledson, Meghoma; Thordarson, Frokjaer-Jensen; Osmajic
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Crama, Tanganga, Cooper, Bryan; De Norre, Saville; Neghli, Cundle, Azeez; Ivanovic
We say: Preston North End 1-1 Millwall
Millwall may have gone 11 games without defeat against Preston, but four of their seven head-to-head matches have finished all square, and with the two sides level on 41 points, we think that a close-fought encounter will result in the spoils being shared.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
