Preston North End and Watford meet at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon as they bid to take the next step towards a Championship playoff spot.

After a spell of inconsistent form, these teams sit in eighth and 12th place in the table and are still in close proximity to the top six.

Match preview

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With Preston having suffered two separate three-game losing streaks since the end of September, Ryan Lowe is having to work hard to keep the club in contention for the playoffs.

All momentum from earlier in the season has been lost, yet Preston have still managed to register three wins from their most recent Championship fixtures.

The most recent success came in midweek as they recorded a 3-1 victory at Huddersfield Town, extending their recent improvement on their travels to seven points from four games.

A 4-0 defeat at Middlesbrough has proven to be an anomaly with just three goals being conceded in as many fixtures since that disappointment.

At Deepdale, though, Preston must improve, with their only win in six games at their home ground being a 3-2 triumph over Coventry City back on November 4.

Meanwhile, Watford have been halted in their tracks over the past week, failing to win home games against either Southampton or Ipswich Town.

In their defence, they were facing two of the form teams in the division, and it felt like a point gained having netted an equaliser versus the Saints deep into added-on time.

Nevertheless, Valerien Ismael's side are now back down in 12th position, five points adrift of the playoffs even though they have lost just twice - against the top two in the division - in 11 matches.

While Ismael will not necessarily be concerned about the previous double-header, he knows that a positive result is required on Saturday to keep the Hornets within touching distance of the top six.

Team News

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Barring any injury issues, the likelihood is that Lowe names the same Preston XI from the win over Huddersfield.

Key players were rested during the back end of that game, reducing the need for alterations at the weekend, but the likes of Andrew Hughes, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Robbie Brady are options in defence, midfield and on the flank.

Milutin Osmajic and Emil Riis are in line to be the only two players unavailable for selection.

Despite defeat to Ipswich, there are unlikely to be mass changes to the Watford starting lineup, if any at all with the Hornets having given a good account of themselves.

Tom Ince, Matheus Martins and Vakoun Bayo are all options in the final third, but the defence and midfield may stay the same. Goalkeeper Ben Hamer should also keep his spot ahead of Daniel Bachmann.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Storey, Whatmough, Lindsay; Potts, Whiteman, Browne, Millar; Holmes; Evans, Keane

Watford possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Andrews, Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Kone, Livermore, Kayembe; Asprilla, Rajovic, Sema

We say: Preston North End 2-1 Watford

Despite their inconsistences of late, both clubs will be confident of delivering maximum points in the North West. However, in what should prove to be an entertaining fixture, we are backing Preston to edge this one by the odd goal in three.

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