Preston travel to the East Midlands on Friday night for the FA Cup 4th Round, to face an in-form Championship side Nottingham Forest who are unbeaten in ten games.
Both sides got through by beating teams a division above them, and they were both thrilling encounters without a doubt!
Forest entertained Premier League strugglers West Ham, and they managed to grab an unlikely result.
It was an outstanding 5-0 win which included a Jamie Paterson hat-trick to see them through to the next round.
Preston’s thrilling encounter occurred when they faced Ipswich in a 3rd round replay after a 1-1 draw at Portman Road.
They won the game 3-2, which included their player and former Forest man Joe Garner also grabbing a hat-trick.
Vital Quotes:
Davies: “We will pay Preston great respect because they`ve got good, experienced players. Cup ties are a great leveller and we won`t be complacent in any way because if we do, we`ll get punished.”
Grayson: “They are a very good team. They beat West Ham in the last round and we know it will be a tough test.”
Davies: “The one thing we can`t afford to do is take our foot off the gas. For me, the most important thing is to keep the momentum going. We need to make sure our quality, effort and attitude matches the opposition and then we`ll cause them problems.”
Grayson: “This will be an even bigger yardstick of where we are than our previous games against Championship clubs this season, because Forest are flying at the minute.”
Nottingham Forest Team News:
Forest manager Billy Davies is to decide whether Eric Lichaj, Jack Hobbs and Jamall Lascelles are fit enough to play as they missed last Saturdays game at home to Blackburn Rovers.
However, they are making good progress.
Player to watch: Jamie Paterson
Jamie Paterson is on hot form at the moment for Forest, scoring five goals in five games.
Paterson arrived from League One side Walsall in July 2013 for an Undisclosed Fee and these five goals have been his first for the club, which includes the hat-trick against West Ham in the previous round.
Preston North End Team News:
Kevin Davies out for North End, after receiving a red card last week against Coventry.
Scott Wiseman isn’t cup tied and is eligible as he didn’t feature for Barnsley in the FA Cup.
Player to watch: Joe Garner
Definitely starting to find the net, with a hat-trick against Ipswich in the previous round, which included a two minute brace.
Match Facts & Stats
A very famous FA Cup meeting between these two sides was fifty years ago, Preston defeated Forest in a replay which saw the Lilywhites to go on and reach the final.
However, the last time these two teams clashed was when PNE were in the Championship, which ended up in a 2-2 draw at The City Ground.
Meetings in last 6 matches
Forest (4/6-67% Won)
Draw-(1/6-17%)
PNE(1/6-17% Won)
Ref Watch:
Top division referee Mike Dean will be taking control at The City Ground.
Read more: http://www.pne.vitalfootball.co.uk/sitepage.asp?a=346553#ixzz2rF6SvVlJ
Next Fixtures:
Forest:
vs Watford (H)
vs Yeovil (H)
vs Blackpool (A)
Lilywhites:
vs Bradford (A)
vs Notts County (H)
vs Rotherham (H)
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