Bournemouth Vs Preston North End Match Preview
Npower League One Saturday 5th May 2012
Venue: Dean Court
Kick Off: 15:00
Referee: Simon Hooper (click here for referee stats)
Form:
Bournemouth: DLWLDD
Preston North End: LDDWDD
After a disappointing and somewhat unfruitful campaign for the Lilywhites the final day of the season beckons where the Lilywhites take on AFC Bournemouth.
Before the season kicked off North End fans and players alike will have been looking to this fixture as the day that automatic promotion back to the Championship was celebrated.
That was certainly the intentions set out by previous manager Phil Brown.
Instead, the game is a mere footnote in the parody that has been the 2011/2012 season.
Over 40 players have used by North End this term, which is a record, not to mention two management teams and indeed two different chairman all fail in their attempts to steer the Lilywhites towards the upper-reaches of the table.
Thus, it is unsurprising to note that the only thing left to battle out between the Lilywhites and the Cherries on Saturday afternoon is pride and who finishes above whom.
A win for North End would see them leap frog their Dorset counterparts and, if results elsewhere go North End’s way, a top half finish could be on the cards.
Previous Meetings (Click here for head-to-head statistics)
Despite taking the lead, North End suffered defeat when the Cherries visited Deepdale earlier on in the season in what was the first meeting between the two sides in nearly 12 years.
Juvhel Tsoumou put North End ahead just shy of the half hour mark to send the Lilywhites 1-0 up at the break.
However, a Wesley Thomas goal culminated the Cherries’ front-footed nature in the second half which was further rewarded with the South Coast outfit turning the game on its head and taking the lead on 58 minutes through Scott Malone.
The defeat was sealed when Marc Pugh netted Bournemouth’s third 10 minutes later.
North End’s last visit to Dean Court saw the Lilywhites head back up north with all three points thanks to a 1-0 win.
Bret Angel was on target for North End that afternoon back on 11th March 2000.
Team News
With Player of the Year Thorsten Stuckmann being kept in the sidelines with a knee problem, Andreas Arestidou is set to keep his place between the sticks.
The Morecambe-born Cypriot stopper will be looking to earn himself a new contract by impress gaffer Graham Westley.
Youngster Will Hayhurst, fresh from his senior debut and indeed the LFA Youth Cup Final win against Burnley on Wednesday, will be hoping for more first team action.
Neil Mellor, Iain Hume, Adam Barton, Paul Parry are all out whilst Barry Nicholson is a major doubt for the trip to Dean Court.
For the home team, interim Cherries boss Paul Groves as made suggestions that he is likely to give several fringe players a run out on Saturday against North End.
Players such as Shwan Jalal, Donal McDermott and Lyle Taylor are likely to feature having been in the squad for Bournemouth’s previous game.