Match Pack: Preston vs Saints
Saints are in Sky Bet Championship action on Saturday afternoon as they look to keep the momentum ahead of their play-off fixtures that will follow. Get all the insight with our Match Pack...
THE MATCH
Preston vs Southampton
Sky Bet Championship
Deepdale
Saturday 2nd May, 12.30pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Stephen Martin
Assistant Referees: George Byrne and Matthew McGrath
Fourth Official: Darren Drysdale
THE KITS
On the road, Saints will be back in their away strip of yellow and blue stripes, with blue shorts and yellow socks. The Lilywhites will be in their home kit, made up of white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.
TICKETS
Tickets for Saturday afternoon are now on general sale with limited tickets remaining.
LIVE COVERAGE
UK subscription holders can watch live on Sky Sports+ from 12pm BST.
Saints Play match passes are only available to domestic and overseas supporters.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The Lancashire side sit in 12th place, and with nothing competitive to play for, it will simply be a case of wanting to end the season on a high for Preston.
Southampton are still 18 games unbeaten in the Sky Bet Championship, and despite the prospect of earning automatic promotion being over, Saints will be keen to continue their form and momentum into the play-offs.
Saints head into the fixture in fifth place, two points behind Middlesbrough in fourth, a position that Southampton would prefer to finish in for the benefit of a second leg at home.
TEAM NEWS
Preston: Callum Lang has been limited to only five outings after being disrupted by both ankle and hamstring setbacks.
Out of action since early April, Jamal Lewis is also set to miss the season finale due to a thigh issue, whilst Ali McCann is currently dealing with an ankle injury of his own.
Saints: The fixture may come a little too soon for Jack Stephens who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury.
Dealing with a calf issue of his own, Kuryu Matsuki was absent for Tuesday night’s clash with Ipswich at St Mary’s.
Southampton continue to be without long-term absentees Alex McCarthy (wrist) and Mads Roerslev (knee), with both players still sidelined through injury.
THE MANAGERS
Paul Heckingbottom: To follow.
Tonda Eckert: “We know there is one more coming up on Saturday, we have amazing away support travelling with us, so we will make sure that we do everything to win the game, and on to the play-offs.
"The support has been outstanding, especially over the last weeks that we get into crunch time in the season. We know about the importance of every single game. It’s been amazing at Wembley, it’s been amazing today (against Ipswich) and I’m sure it’ll be amazing on Saturday. We’ll make sure we leave everything on the pitch.”
ONES TO WATCH
Lewis Dobbin: On loan from Aston Villa, the left-winger has provided goals and assists for the Lilywhites during his stay.
Having scored in their last outing against Sheffield United, Dobbin will be looking to build on that goal with another to cap his stint off.
Ryan Manning: Having scored from a free-kick against Ipswich in midweek, Manning’s dead-ball quality gives Saints a constant attacking threat.
The left-back is no stranger to set-piece strikes either, with that effort marking his fourth free-kick goal of the season.
TOP SCORERS
Preston
Goals:
Dobbin 10
Devine, Osmajic 8
Jebbison 6
Assists:
Devine, Dobbin 8
Whiteman 6
Storey, Thompson 3
Saints
Goals:
Azaz 11
Stewart 9
Manning, Larin 8
Assists:
Scienza 10
Azaz, Fellows 8
Manning 7
FORM GUIDE
Preston
Sheffield United (a) SBC: W 2-3 (Lindsay 2, Dobbin)
Birmingham (a) SBC: L 2-1 (Hughes)
West Brom (h) SBC: L 0-2
Charlton (a) SBC: W 1-2 (Dobbin, Potts)
QPR (h) SBC: D 1-1 (Potts)
Saints
Ipswich Town (h) SBC: D 2-2 (Manning, Larin)
Man City (n) FAC: L 1-2 (Azaz)
Bristol City (h) SBC: D 2-2 (Larin, Stewart)
Swansea (a) SBC: W 2-1 (Charles, Archer)
Blackburn (h) SBC: W 3-0 (Larin, Manning, Archer)
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 45
Preston wins: 15
Draws: 14
Saints wins: 16
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
November 2025: Saints 0-2 Preston ChampionshipApril 2024: Saints 3-0 Preston Championship (Adams 2, Armstrong)
October 2023: Preston 2-2 Saints Championship (Walker-Peters, Evans)
July 2019: Preston 1-3 Saints Championship (Ings 2, Vokins)
September 2011: Saints 2-1 Preston EFL Cup (Hooiveld, Lallana)
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