After a morale boosting and much needed three points on the road at the weekend, Darren Ferguson’s side face another tricky away trip on Tuesday night.
This time North End have to cope with the threat of Leeds United, a side that have become a rival in recent years due to playoff battles as well as numerous players departing Deepdale in exchange for Elland Road, some in controversial circumstances.
Following promotion back to the Championship, United have hit the ground running and find themselves in the playoff places - a stark contrast from North End who are still in the bottom three.
A win for North End could see them move out of the drop zone whilst Leeds will be looking to put daylight between them and the rest of the playoff hopefuls.
Previous Meetings
Due to Leeds spending two seasons in the third tier, the last time these two sides met was when North End were under the stewardship of Paul Simpson in the 2006/2007 campaign.
The trip to Elland Road on 30th March was a topsy-turvy affair and proved costly for North End due to missing out on a playoff place by just two points.
Brett Ormerod put North End in front with just 5 minutes played with a goal that proved to be enough to send the visitors in at the break with a lead.
However, 6 minutes after the restart, Robbie Blake got on the end of a Richard Cresswell cross to stab the ball home in front of a flailing Andrew Lonergan.
It seemed as though the points were going to be shared until another former North Ender, David Healy, dealt the knockout blow to ensure victory for United.
However, the fixture earlier that season at Deepdale ended in a comprehensive win for North End. On Halloween, North End ran out 4-1 winners thanks to goals from Danny Dichio, former Leeds midfielder Danny Pugh, David Nugent and Lewis Neal.
David Healy did reply for Leeds but the goal was merely scant consolation.
Team News
Centre back Wayne Brown is a doubt for North End after limping out of the win over Coventry at the weekend. The former Leicester man felt a twinge in his hamstring and manager Darren Ferguson deemed it not worth risking. Craig Morgan is set to deputise.
Leeds will have to do without influential midfielder Robert Snodrass through suspension. The Scot is due to serve a 1 match ban following two bookable offences against Sheffield United at the weekend.