Speaking of the game ahead, Town boss Joe Royle told the Official Club Website: "They are all hard games at this stage of the season but Preston are certainly in decent form and have a number of good players in their squad.
"Chris Lucketti was with me as a schoolboy at Oldham and has developed into a very good centre-half in this division while Richard Cresswell has continually scored goals at this level.
"People think about Preston and say they don't spend any money and the like but they have developed a very good side and we know it will be a difficult 90 minutes for us.
"But we're going there to win. We're the leading scorers in the division away from home and that says it all about our attitude on our travels. We have not picked up the results that perhaps we have deserved with some of our performances this season either."