Preston North End and Hull City square off at Deepdale on Saturday with both teams very much involved in the Championship promotion race.
While the in-form home side are eighth in the standings, the visitors are in sixth position after putting together an impressive run of their own.
Match preview
© Reuters
There was a time earlier in the season when Ryan Lowe could have few complaints if the Preston hierarchy opted to go in a different direction.
However, since suffering eight defeats over a 12-game period, Preston have since responded with four victories and two draws from their following six fixtures.
On the back of defeating Ipswich Town, Cardiff City and Middlesbrough, North End came from two goals down to earn a share of the spoils with Blackburn Rovers in their derby clash on February 17.
Although that retained momentum heading into the encounter at promotion rivals Coventry City, few people would have foreseen Preston running out 3-0 victors at the CBS Arena.
Having inflicted just a second home defeat on the Sky Blues, as well as registering just a sixth away win of their own, Preston play host to Hull with the opportunity to move level on points with their sixth-placed opponents.
Hull have shown similar levels of performance as Preston, shaking off four defeats in five over the Christmas and New Year period to win five of their last seven games.
Losing at home to Swansea City on February 10 felt like a blow, but Hull then rather impressively came through three away games in a row with 2-1 victories.
Rotherham United, Huddersfield Town and Southampton were all defeated before Liam Rosenior witnessed his side earn a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.
Although the Tigers missed an opportunity to move ahead of the fifth-placed Baggies, it ensured that they kept their opponents close to themselves and the chasing pack at a time when the promotion race is only warming up.
Team News
© Reuters
Preston will have had over a week of recovery time since their victory over Coventry by the time that kickoff comes around on Saturday.
Barring any late injury issues, Lowe is expected to select the same starting lineup, with Kian Best, Brad Potts and Duane Holmes remaining unavailable.
Rosenior may take a similar approach with his Hull side, although there is more chance of at least one alteration being made.
Aaron Connolly will be considered for a recall in place of Abdulkadir Omur, with Fabio Carvalho dropping into a deeper creative role.
As it stands, Liam Delap remains Hull's only injury absentee for the trip to Deepdale.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Browne, Whiteman, McCann, Millar; Frokjaer-Jensen; Riis, Keane
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Giles; Philogene, Morton, Seri, Zaroury; Carvalho; Connolly
We say: Preston North End 2-1 Hull City
This has all the makings of one of the most competitive fixtures in the EFL this weekend, it difficult to predict a winner with any great certainty. Although a draw would not come as a surprise, we feel that Preston are most likely to continue on their way and move level on points with their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
