Sheffield Wednesday will look for a third-straight Championship win on Saturday when they host Preston North End.
Sheffield Wednesday go into the next round of Championship fixtures on the back of consecutive away wins, beating Hull City and Derby County in their last two outings.
The two wins for Danny Rohl’s side leaves the Owls in 12th place of the Championship table, with the mood among fans really picking up ahead of 2025.
Preston will prove to be another rough game for Wednesday, though. And it’ll be made even tougher with Barry Bannan suspended for Sheffield Wednesday after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season at Pride Park.
Here we take a deeper look at Preston North End ahead of their trip to Hillsborough…
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Who is the Preston North End manager?
Preston North End are managed by a very familiar Steel City name in Paul Heckingbottom, who played for Sheffield Wednesday and later managed Sheffield United.
The Barnsley-born 47-year-old played for the Owls between 2004 and 2006, making 47 total appearances and helping Wednesday earn promotion from League One in 2005.
As Blades manager, Heckingbottom won promotion from the Championship in 2023, leaving at the end of 2023 and taking charge of Preston in August 2024.
So far, he’s claimed just four wins in 19 total games as Preston boss.
Preston North End’s current league position and recent form
As things stand, Preston sit in 18th place of the Championship table and are just three points above the drop zone.
The Lilywhites have drawn their last three now, holding West Brom to a 1-1 draw at Deepdale in their last outing.
But Heckingbottom’s side are now winless in their last eight Championship games and have won just one of their last 10 in the league.
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How did Preston North End’s last league fixture play out?
Preston, by all accounts, put up a good fight against play-off hopefuls West Brom on Friday night last week, playing out a 1-1 draw in front of more than 16,000 at Deepdale.
They came from a goal behind in the second half to add a much-needed point to the board, with big striker Emil Riis scoring his fourth Championship goal of the campaign.
After the match, West Brom fans were very vocal on X, criticising manager Carlos Corberan.
When was the last time Preston played Sheffield Wednesday?
The Owls last played Preston in their last game of 2023. In what was a memorable outing for Rohl’s side, Sheffield Wednesday won 1-0 at Preston with Marvin Johnson scoring the only goal of the game.
The reverse fixture last season was the opposite: Preston beat Xisco Munoz’s Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough, back in the August of that campaign.
The Owls’ last home win against Preston was back in 2021. Of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, Sheffield Wednesday have won four and Preston have won five.
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The key Preston North End players for Danny Rohl to watch out for
Riis and Leeds United loan man Sam Greenwood are Preston’s top scorers in the Championship this season, both boasting four goals and also two assists each.
Greenwood is something of a set-piece specialist and so he could be a thorn in Wednesday’s side on Saturday, with the Owls still lacking when defending set-pieces.
One-time Sheffield Wednesday loan man Jordan Storey is Preston’s highest-rated player this season, per Sofascore, with an average rating of 7.02.