Palace v Preston North End

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Nationwide Division One

Team news

This game could possibly be the only time this season that Palace fans will actually be hoping that the opposition side win. Preston are currently in seventh position, just two points away from sixth-placed Millwall.

If Millwall lose at Coventry on Friday, Preston would jump ahead of them into the last play-off spot.

Following the departure of David Moyes to Everton, Preston are under the leadership of Kelham O'Hanlon. In fact the caretaker boss could see himself play an even bigger role than usual in Saturday’s game.

With Andy Lonergan injured and David Lucas still not fully recovered from a back injury, O’Hanlon could take up two seats on the visitors bench. Tepi Moilanen is likely to start in goal and the caretaker boss could well be on the subs' bench as both manager and substitute keeper!

Preston’s main injury worry is that of Chris Lucketti, who is currently suffering with an ankle injury. Lucketti resumed training this week and could possibly make the starting line-up. If Lucketti is fit enough, it will allow skipper Sean Gregan to return to his usual midfield slot alongside Dickson Etuhu.

With mid-table mediocrity a certainty for Palace this season, Francis could decide to be adventurous and experiment a little. However the feeling is that he is unlikely to change much in the starting line-up.

Steve Thomson will be forced to miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, which he picked up last Sunday against Crewe. This will mean that Simon Rodger should start in midfield alongside Aki Riihilahti.

Jamie Smith, Kit Symons and Tony Popovic are all out injured and doubtful to feature on Saturday. However having said this, don’t be surprised to hear Terry Byfield calling out Poppo’s name when reading the starting line-ups on Saturday afternoon.

Following an impressive 45 minutes at Crewe, Tommy Black will be pushing for a starting role in midfield. Nonetheless, he is unlikely to dislodge either Dugie Freedman, Clinton Morrison or Ade Akinbiyi from the starting eleven.

Preston North End - league stats

Full league table

Preston North End - current form

Full form table

Our home record v Preston North End

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
24/11/2001	League	Preston North End	2 - 1	Crystal Palace
03/03/2001	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Preston North End
30/09/2000	League	Preston North End	2 - 0	Crystal Palace
24/02/1979	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 0	Preston North End
14/10/1978	League	Preston North End	2 - 3	Crystal Palace

All time results

One to watch

Richard Cresswell

The former York City and Leicester City striker has done extremely well since his switch to Deepdale and is one of the main reasons why they are still in with a shout for promotion this year. Now the main striker for the Lilywhites after the £5 million departure of Jon MAcken to Manchester City, Cresswell is tall and difficult to handle in the air, Cresswell delivers a powerful shot and Palace will have to do well to deal with him on Saturday.

Last meeting

English Division 1

C Palace 0 (0) Preston 2 (2) Healy 8 Alexander 24 (p) 03-03-2001

C Palace: Kolinko, Karic, Upson, Austin, Smith, Fan Zhiyi(Rubins,45), Rodger(Gray,71), Black, Thomson(Mullins,62), Morrison, Forssell Subs not used: Freedman, Fuller

Preston: Moilanen, Alexander, Jackson, Gregan, Murdock, Edwards, Rankine, McKenna, Cartwright, Healy (Barry-Murphy,89), Macken Subs not used Lucas, Kidd, Gunnlaugsson, Anderson

Bookings: Austin (C Palace)

Attendance: 15,160

Referee: R Pearson (Peterlee)

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