Preston North End get their pre-season schedule underway with a fixture against Lincoln City on Friday morning.
The Championship side and their League One opponents have made the trip to Spain and will square off at the Pinatar Arena.
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Under Ryan Lowe, Preston have generally performed above expectations until they reach the business end of the season, twice blowing chances to earn a spot in the Championship playoffs.
In 2023-24, their efforts during the run-in were abysmal, incredibly losing five successive games without scoring a single goal. Preston missed out on the top six by 10 points.
Lowe has remained at the helm, though, with the powers-that-be recognising that they would risk a further downturn if they changed direction, instead choosing to support their current boss in the market.
As it stands, Iceland international midfielder Stefan Teitur Thordarson has arrived from Silkeborg, while Leeds United playmaker Sam Greenwood has also signed on loan.
This is the first of six pre-season games for Preston, with the headline acts coming against Fiorentina and Everton on July 27 and August 3 respectively.
First up is a meeting with a Lincoln side who could count themselves unfortunate not to make the League One playoffs after an outstanding second half to the campaign.
During their closing 20 fixtures, the Imps lost just twice, at home to Wigan Athletic and champions Portsmouth in their closing four games.
Michael Skubala will feel that his side should be viewed as one of the promotion contenders for 2024-25, despite the likes of Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Wrexham entering the third tier.
As it stands, as many as seven new players have arrived at Sincil Bank, with defender Tendayi Darikwa and midfielder Tom Bayliss among the notable additions.
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Both managers will likely place emphasis on heavily rotating their side throughout this contest in the Spanish sun.
There is a realistic possibility of two separate sides being selected for each 45 minutes and minimal chance of any player featuring for the full match.
Teitur Thordarson only signed for Preston earlier this week but the 25-year-old is with the rest of the squad for the remainder of their training camp.
We say: Preston North End 1-1 Lincoln City
To a large degree, this fixture will be used as a way of getting the legs back up and running ahead of the rest of the summer and may not be played at a ferocious pace. With that in mind, we are settling on a low-scoring draw between the two EFL sides.
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Darren Plant
