Old Boy's Weekend Round-Up
With North End recording back-to-back wins for the first time since August, we take a look at the former Lilywhites to see if they prospered this weekend.
Firstly, at Fratton Park, David Nugent featured for Pompey for the first time under Tony Adams since returning from injury. The former Bury striker got more than half an hour on the pitch during Portsmouth's 2-2 draw with newly promoted Hull after replacing Michael Hughes. With Adams considering sending Defoe under the knife for a troublesome calf injury, Nugent's return to fitness couldn't have come at a better time as he will be attempting to stake a claim for a place in the starting eleven under the new management.
Nugent's former strike partner Richard Cresswell also came on as a substitute this weekend having replaced the injured Dave Kitson in the 11th minute. Stoke recorded a 1-0 win over West Brom at the Britannia Stadium sending them up to 14th in the table. Mamady Sidibie got the only goal of the game 4 minutes from time.
In the Championship two former Preston teammates became opponents during Burnley's home fixture with Doncaster Rovers. Graham Alexander and Brian Stock were both played the full ninety minutes for their respective sides with neither teams being able to find a goal. The game resulted in a 0-0 draw.
Andy Gray started up front for Charlton against Sheffield United in what turned out to be Alan Pardew's last game for the club. Gray's dismal run of scoring form continued and was substituted after just over an hour played, replaced by the former Portsmouth striker Todorov. At this point the game was effectively over with the score at 5-2 to Sheffield United and proved to be the final nail in Alan Pardew's managerial coffin.
The same can't be said for Craig Beattie though as the former Celtic striker was on hand to net Crystal Palace's third goal in a 4-2 win over Bristol City. This fixture was of course a repeat of the Play-Off semi-final from last May and will perhaps have been considered as revenge amongst some sections of the Selhurst Road crowd. Neil Warnock wouldn't have taken the win as any consolation but will be happy with the result nonetheless.
Claude Davis was taken off injured during Derby's 2-0 defeat to Ipswich on Saturday. Preston's next opponents also had Jay McEveley on the bench for the first time since his return from his loan spell at Preston whilst Tommy Miller came on as a late substitute for Ipswich.
Saturday's tea time fixture in the Championship saw Nottingham Forest take on Norwich at the City Ground. Kelvin Wilson was at the heart of the Forest defence but was unable to thwart the efforts of the Canaries who emerged as 2-1 winners.
Paul Gallagher was on hand to fire Plymouth into a two goal lead at Home Park against Cardiff on Saturday. Emile Mpenza had put the Pilgrims ahead just two minutes before, sending Paul Sturrock's men in at the break with a healthy advantage. Michael Chopra pulled one back just after the hour mark but it wasn't to be enough for the Welsh outfit. Yoann Folly came on as a substitute early in the first half for Plymouth to replace the injured Duguid.
Another former on-loan striker from last season was part of a winning side as Tamas Priskin played the full ninety minutes of Watford's 3-0 win over QPR. Such a win will do Malky MacKay any harm for the contention of taking over as manager at Vicarage Road whilst leaving Paul Sousa looking for his first win as manager of QPR. Patrick Agyemang played the full ninety minutes for QPR and will be one of the players that Sousa will be relying on to give his side their first win.
To conclude our round-up of the Championship we will do so with arguably the most important game of the weekend; Preston Vs Barnsley. Both Rob Kozluk and Jon Macken started for Simon Davey's Barnsley who were hit by a late Sean St Ledger winner to give Preston all the spoils. Macken was a nuisance throughout having a number of efforts on goal whilst Kozluk saved Barnsley from losing by a wider margin by clearing a Chris Sedgwick volley off the line in the second half.
In League One, Jemal Johnson fired the MK Dons into a 6th minute lead against Walsall on Saturday. The former Blackburn striker's shot from the edge of the box fired into the roof of the net to set up the Dons for a 3-0 win. Michael Ricketts played the full ninety minutes for Walsall but was unable to cause any sort of attacking threat against an assured looking MK Dons side.
Alan McCormack was in from the start for Southend's 2-1 defeat at home to Oldham. Another former Preston midfielder in the shape of Sean Gregan was an unused substitute for the visitors.
David Lucas was back between the sticks for Leeds United as the Yorkshire outfit comfortably beat Hartlepool by four goals to one to conclude our round-up of League One.
To English football's basement tier now, where firstly, Accrington Stanley had two former Preston players in their 16 man squad. John Mullin was in from the start in the centre of midfield whilst Colin Murdock was an unused substitute for the 1-1 draw with Chesterfield.
Kelvin Langmead was handed a rare start for Paul Simpson's Shrewsbury during their 0-0 draw with Lincoln City. Dave Hibbert however was deemed good enough for the substitute bench.
Marcus Stewart started for Exeter City during their 1-1 draw with Morecambe at Christie Park but the former Sunderland and Ipswich man was later substituted. Much like Stewart, Steve Basham started but was substituted after the 70 minute mark.
Brian Barry-Murphy played the vast majority of Bury's emphatic 4-0 win over Gillingham on Saturday. The former Preston midfielder was substituted after 83 minutes with the win already safe.
Meanwhile, Omar Daley played the full ninety minutes for Bradford City's 2-0 win over Rotherham on Saturday.
To conclude our old boys weekend round-up we look at non-league Stevenage Borough. Chris Day was the man between the sticks but was powerless to prevent Michael Simpson from netting a brace to give Burton Albion a 2-0 win.
Gavin Ward was unable to keep a clean sheet either as Wrexham lost 1-0 to Kidderminster Harriers.