Palace v Preston North End

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Jon Macken

Team news

Macken had a prolific spell at Preston before Kevin Keegan took him to Manchester City in 2002 in a £5m deal.

Dougie Freedman is over his hamstring troubles. But Tony Popovic (calf), Mikele Leigertwood (ankle) and Andy Johnson (knee) will miss out.

Preston's Adam Nowland (groin) and Youl Mawene (calf) are doubtful of making the trip down to London.

Lewis Neal and Matt Hill have both recovered from injury and could make the squad.

Preston North End - league stats

Full league table

Preston North End - current form

Full form table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
06/12/2003	League	Preston North End	4 - 1	Crystal Palace
08/11/2003	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	Preston North End
28/12/2002	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Preston North End
10/08/2002	League	Preston North End	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
13/04/2002	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Preston North End

All time results

One to watch

David Nugent

It’s becoming increasingly common in English league football to see strikers that could bang them in playing at League 2 level, to move to a Premiership/Championship club only to disappoint and be written off as a waste of money and anti-climax. Just ask Jon Stead at Sunderland who made an impressive start at Blackburn after a seven figure fee was paid for his services by Graeme Souness, then the goals dried up……and now he’s at Sunderland where he’s not exactly banging them in as Mick McCarthy would have hoped.

One man who seems to have bucked such a trend followed by a fair few footballers in past seasons, is Preston’s 20 year old hitman, David Nugent.

A mere snip at £100,000 in January of this year from nearby Bury – Nugent is a man on a mission. On David’s arrival at Deepdale – he’d already made a big enough impression at Gigg Lane in League 2 to justify the transfer fee, scoring 12 goals in 29 games for Bury in 2004/05. Nugent was said to have been tracked by a number of clubs before making the short move down the M61, with rumoured Premiership suitors – but it was Billy Davies who snapped the lethal Nugent up, and how that’s paid dividends….

Said to be “instantly recognisable by his short, pacy steps” – Nugent is a 5ft 11” player who largely relies on his speed and direct style to bring him, and the team goals. That said, he can score with his head too – he’s versatile, useful and generally a threat with the ball at his feet, or when it’s in the air.

Nugent’s quickfire 9 goals in 15 matches at Deepdale lead North End to Cardiff, and the Millennium Stadium for the Championship Playoff Final in which they were defeated by West Ham by a goal to nil. He made a quick impression at Deepdale, and struck a chord with Lillywhites fans for his noticeable work-ethic and great technical ability.

Him, with other dangermen and prominent players, including Dickson Etuhu [who turned down a move to Palace in the summer], ex-Wimbledon man, Patrick Agyemang and highly rated centre back, Youl Mawene – Preston are far from pushovers…..

Last meeting

Preston North End 4-1 Palace

Saturday December 06 2003

Preston North End: Gould, Jackson, Lucketti (Davis, 89), Broomes, Alexander (Cartwright, 86), Etuhu, O'Neil (Cresswell, 82), McKenna, Lewis, Fuller, Healy

Subs not used: Lucas, Abbott

Booking: Etuhu

Goals: Etuhu 48, Alexander 50 (pen), Lewis 79, Healy 90

Palace: Myhre, Edwards, Symons (sent off 51), Popovic, Butterfield, Riihilahti, Hughes, Derry, Borrowdale, Shipperley, Black (Routledge, 80)

Subs not used: Berthelin, Watson, Freedman, Fleming

Booking: Borrowdale

Goal: Derry 71

Prediction league

0 members have predicted for this game so far.

Make your prediction on this game

Selhurst pub guide

Click here