Preston North End will continue their pre-season preparations when they travel to Cumbria to face League Two Barrow in a friendly match on Saturday afternoon.
The Lilywhites are currently unbeaten this summer following a convincing win at Bury last time out, while this weekend's hosts will be looking to build up fitness as they push for the playoffs next term.
Match preview
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Following on from a precarious 22nd-placed finish on their return to the Football League in 2021-22, Barrow blew away any worries of second-season syndrome by placing ninth in League Two last season.
Peter Wild's men collected 62 points from 46 fourth-tier meetings, allowing the Bluebirds to secure a top-half finish, although they were 13 points behind seventh-placed Salford City.
Josh Gordon has excelled in a Barrow shirt since making the switch from Walsall in 2021, and the 26-year-old enjoyed the most productive campaign of his career last season, netting 15 League Two goals in 29 starts.
The Bluebirds will be hoping to maintain their 100 per cent record in pre-season with a victory over PNE on Saturday - a 2-0 win against FC United of Manchester last weekend got Wild's charges off to a flying start in their summer schedule.
Preston have been one of the busier sides so far during pre-season, having already played three matches since the turn of the month, with the most recent ending in a 3-0 win for a youthful Lilywhites side.
Kian Taylor, Lewis Leigh and Kitt Nelson all made the net ripple for Ryan Lowe's men at Gigg Lane against Bury, adding to earlier 7-0 and 3-0 demolitions of non-league Bamber Bridge and Gibraltar-based club Bruno's Magpies respectively.
For a large part of the 2022-23 term, PNE looked as if they would stake a serious push for the Premier League, but a run of five Championship matches without victory resulted in an anti-climatic 12th-placed finish for the Lancashire club.
Much was made of Preston's woeful form at their Deepdale home last campaign, with Lowe's charges managing just seven wins in 23 second-tier fixtures in front of their own fans.
The Lilywhites also struggled to find the net on a consistent basis, with only Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City and relegated Wigan Athletic scoring fewer than Preston's 45 goals last season.
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Team News
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Barrow could hand a debut to new signing Emile Acquah, with the striker earning a move to the Football League following a 13-goal campaign for Maidenhead United in the National League.
Bluebirds boss Wild named two separate XIs for each half as his men trashed non-league Holker Old Boys last time out, with the likes of Courtney Duffus expected to receive another chunk of game time.
As for Preston, Lowe has moved quickly in this summer's transfer window to address his side's lack of offensive prowess, bringing in Duane Holmes and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen from Huddersfield Town and Danish side Odense respectively.
Emil Riis Jakobsen suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury which ended this 2022-23 season in the middle of January, and the towering forward is not set to be back in first-team action until September.
Barrow possible starting lineup:
Lillis; Ogungbo, Campbell, Canavan, Newby; Duffus, Foley, Warren, Feeley; Acquah, Whitfield
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Lindsay, Nelson, O'Neill; Potts, Browne, Ledson, Woodburn, Brady; Slater, Storey
We say: Barrow 1-2 Preston North End
Barrow enjoyed a comfortable victory over non-league opposition last time out, but the arrival of Championship side Preston to Cumbria will put their unbeaten pre-season record at serious risk.
The Lilywhites are back from a training camp in Spain and should be confident of recording their fourth win of the summer against their fourth-tier hosts on Saturday afternoon.
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Carter White
