Preston v Aston Villa: Deepdale clash heralds the start of a kinder run for Dean Smith
Tomorrow, at least in theory, is the day the road begins to get a little easier for Villa and Dean Smith, writes Matt Maher.
Having spent the first two months of his reign taking on the best the Championship has to offer, a trip to 17th-placed Preston is – at least on paper – a little less foreboding than some of those recent challenges.
In reality, a Lilywhites team beaten only once on their own turf since the end of September will pose a test which cannot be underestimated by Villa, who are aiming to build on Boxing Day’s morale-boosting win at Swansea.
It is true there are no easy games in the Championship. Regardless, the next few weeks offer Smith’s men the chance to kick on, having run the gauntlet of fellow promotion contenders and emerged still very much part of the play-off chasing pack.
Of Villa’s next six opponents, only QPR – who visit B6 on New Year’s Day – are currently in the top half. The opportunity is definitely there.
Quickly rebounding from the disappointment of Sunday’s defeat to Leeds was imperative for Villa.
Smith said: “It was nice to bounce back. We’ve been through a really tough run of fixtures.
“We’ve just played three of the teams who were relegated from the Premier League in our last four games. It’s been a tough run of games but we’ve done really well. We’ve lost one in eight so we’ll take that form and move on now.”
Preston, for their part, are on a far firmer footing than the team which arrived at Villa Park in early October bottom of the table.
Since that chaotic 3-3 draw, which heralded the end of Steve Bruce’s tenure, Alex Neil’s men have actually won as many games as Villa.
Only in recent weeks have they began to stumble, just slightly, losing three of their last five, including a 2-1 Boxing Day defeat to Hull at Deepdale.
Neil is currently dealing with something of an injury crisis, having seen centre-back Ben Davies limp off in midweek, while Manchester City loanee Lukas Nmecha is his only fit senior centre-forward.
Former Villa youth midfielder Daniel Johnson will start for the hosts, though another Bodymoor Heath product, Callum Robinson, is among those sidelined.
Likely line-up:
Subs: Revan, Whelan, Bolasie, El Ghazi, Davis, Hogan, Bunn.
Preston (4-2-3-1): Rudd, Clarke, Huntington, Storey, Hughes, Gallagher, Johnson, Burke, Browne, Barkhuizen, Nmecha.
