FORM GUIDE

PNE  8 LIONS 9

LAST TIME OUT



HE PLAYED FOR THEM

Barry Raymond Kitchener (11 December 1947 – 30 March 2012) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-back for Millwall between 1966 and 1982.

Born in Dagenham, Essex, Kitchener signed for Millwall in August 1965 and made his Millwall debut in February 1967 at left back, against Birmingham City replacing the injured Harry Cripps.[1] In his next game Kitchener scored against Sheffield United, hitting a 30-yard screamer past former England goalkeeper Alan Hodgkinson. On the return of Cripps to the side, he played in every game that season at centre half, retaining the number five shirt until his retirement in 1982. His total of 602 appearances remains a club record.[1][2] He released an autobiographical DVD titled 60 Minutes with Barry Kitchener, and in May 2007 was voted by fans to represent Millwall in the P.F.A. Centenary Hall of Fame.[3]

He played one summer in America on loan to the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League, wearing the number 22 shirt and making 20 appearances along the way. Tampa Bay went all the way through to league final, before losing to Vancouver, 2–1 in Soccer Bowl '79.[4]

Kitchener died on 30 March 2012. He had recently been diagnosed with cancer.[2] Before Millwall's home game on 7 April 2012 against Hull City, a minute's applause and a service were held. The home side wore a special white kit in memory of Kitchener.[5]

The west stand at The Den is named after him

PNE Team News


Ryan Lowe said striker Emil Riis is 50/50 for Friday's game, with the club awaiting results of the scan on an injury the Danish forward picked up last weekend.

Ched Evans has had a few days of training and should be available for selection after his own injury troubles, while Brad Potts and Josh Earl have both recovered from illness.

Liam Lindsay returns to contention after serving his two-match suspension.

The Opposition


The Lions arrive at Deepdale still within a shout of the Play-Off places, sitting four points outside of the top six with five games to go.

A remarkable run of five straight victories between February and the beginning of March pushed them right into the mix, but just two victories in their last seven has left them with work to do.

On the back of a 4-1 thrashing of Barnsley, Gary Rowett’s side will no doubt be confident upon their arrival in Lancashire, and know that they may need all three points in order to maintain their realistic Play-Off hopes.

Our Last Meeting


PNE last came out on top against Millwall in February 2019, when goals from Andrew Hughes, Tom Clarke and Sean Maguire inside the opening half hour of the game set North End on their way to victory in the capital.

Ben Thompson pulled a goal back for the hosts in the second half, but PNE came out 3-1 winners.

Key Stats

PNE are winless in their last five meetings with the Lions, with four of those games ending in defeat.

North End are looking to win four successive Championship home matches for the first time since September 2019, when Alex Neil was the man in charge.

Josh Earl, who was missing through illness last weekend, could return to make his 100th appearance in professional football.

Man In The Middle


Thomas Bramall will take charge of his second Preston North End fixture of the season on Friday.

Bramall refereed the home victory over Swansea City earlier in the campaign, while the only other previous PNE game which he has taken charge of was the defeat to Luton Town in March 2021.

He has officiated 28 games so far this term, showing 88 yellow cards and five reds.

MACS VIEW

The middle match in our trilogy of games against London clubs brings the Lions to Deepdale, still in with a shout of the play offs, they are extremely well organised and usually hard to break down, the kind of game Ched usually thrives in. Doubt whether this will be an end to end thriller given both sides lack of goals this season.
Attritional may be the word

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 16TH APRIL KO 7:45 PM

v

LAST MATCH



Well another game we should have won, but poor finishing and still cant defend set pieces meant only a point. We had chances in the first half and either saves, blocks or poor finishing meant we didn't find the net. Bolton had a couple of chances but BPF with a save & a bad miss equaled 0-0 at HT. Onto the 2nd we finally took the lead, Storey with a tap in after Dean hit the post. We had further chances but couldn't find a second and then Bolton had a set piece and they scored, in the last minute of the game. Draw number 13 and more points dropped      

THE MATCH



Next up and a trip down to Milton Keynes. The Donuts have had an excellent season and currently lie in the 2nd automatic spot, 3 points ahead of Toytown but have played a game more. Scott Twine is there top scorer with 15 goals & 12 assists aswell. They haven't lost in 15 games, there last defeat was at home to relegation threatened Doncaster They will hope to secure that 2nd promotion spot and not have to go through the lottery of the playoffs.

CURRENT FORM

OWLS                -                                                     

DONUTS             -                                             

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

BEN TONER
Declan O'Shea and Stephen Brown
Fourth Official : Tom Reeves

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Storey Hutch Dean
NML Byers Bannan Luongo Johnson
Berahino Gregory

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Berahino

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML STANDINGS

Pei 16
SCO 14
Kev 12
Wereham 11
Maddix 9
Imre 9
Wash 7
SS 5

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Manchester City v Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester United v Norwich City
Southampton v Arsenal
Watford v Brentford

AHHAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





We

I think this Scot Cup semi-final can't come quickly enough for Ange and his revamped Celtic side as they seem to have "hit top gear" at the right time of the season and are unbeaten in domestic matches for months. Also some injured key players now "returning to the fold" and "raring to go" to bolster an already buoyant first team squad. What a difference compared with the problems of last season in front of no crowds due to COVID lockdown. The script couldn't be written any better with Rangers having to recover in a couple of days from a testy Euro fixture and running straight on to a huge pitch at Hampden Park. Ange's hi-press strategy should "test them to their limits" and we'll see if it pays off with a pivotal result that should pave the way to another domestic "treble" for the Hoops and Ange's first season in charge of Celtic attaining legendary status due to the way he has revitalised the whole first team structure in such a short period and certainly makes them formidable opponents for any other Scot Prem side with too little money resources to compete at this level. It certainly looks like Celtic's forced absence from Euro footie by Bodo Glimt has been a godsend for them - no Euro footie distractions any more and full focus on the domestic footie front. In summary, an interesting and probable very positive end to the season although in this particular match, as always, one must closely scrutinise who is the assigned referee and if he is an official who is capable of changing the course of a footie match through some kinda shit decision, something that sadly happens too often in Scot footie matches with no VAR available to overrule a lotta these dodgy decisions. Hopefully no ref issues in this case and there is no referee controversy attached to this match whatsoever. We shall see how it all unfolds in due course.

Altrincham 1-2 Halifax
Boreham Wood 0-1 Dover
Dag & Red 2-0 Barnet
Eastleigh 2-2 Bromley
Grimsby 1-2 Stockport
Maidenhead United 2-3 Weymouth
Notts County 1-2 King's Lynn
Southend 1-2 Wealdstone
Woking 0-3 Torquay
Wrexham 1-1 Solihull Moors
Yeovil 0-0 Aldershot



League Table After Matchday 52

Lord Snoots = 558
Amelia = 544
St Charles = 534
Devon = 528
Dancing = 510
Spireitematt = 476

Surprised there has not been a thread about this game up before now as it is a huge game for both teams, maybe for slightly different reasons. Hearts win, totally ends Hibs season. Hibs win, then scuppers Hearts guaranteed European adventure in the guaranteed group stage games. Should Hearts be confident following last weeks match, yes, however Hibs started the game very well and bossed it for 20-25 minutes, however, the injury to Wright and Neilson’s tactical change totally altered the flow of the game in Hearts favour imo. Thought Maloney got all his substitutions totally wrong. Hibs needed battlers, winners, Hibs to die for type players on the pitch, so how the heck he left Stevenson clicking his heels on the bench is baffling.
Anyway, on to Saturday, for those of you Hibees going I hope you have a totally miserable day but both teams put on a decent spectacle for the viewing audience.

I'm including Monday's rather than Friday's Championship fixtures.

Gamball:
Middlesbrough - Huddersfield

Others:
Man City - Liverpool (FA Cup, score at the end of the game before penalties if applicable)
Southampton - Arsenal
Watford - Brentford
MK Dons - Sheff Wednesday
Newcastle - Leicester
Coventry - Bournemouth
Barnsley - Peterborough
Cardiff - Luton
Nottgm Forest - WBA

2 points for a correct result
4 points for a correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score      
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Random Badger gives you 2 points

The random badger is used for any random prediction used once in each matchday sequence. For instance, a scorer at a particular match, the number of red cards in the matches or yellow cards or own goals or owt you want really within reason, I do need to be able to check whether it's correct or not. Please don't put stuff like....."Commentator says...."  
The joker   is played for one match in each sequence and if correct you get double points. So if you've predicted 1-0 and it finishes 2-0, you get 4 pts, but if you've predicted 2-0, that's 8 pts. But if you get it wrong, it's minus 2.
Jokers and badgers are optional. You don't have to play one if you don't want.


Cup games:
In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. Similarly with the badger, if your random prediction is affected by this, it'll be half the points.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  

NEW FOR THIS SEASON: End of season Play Offs.

The one who finishes top of the league will still be champion, but after the season finishes there will be Play Offs between the top 4, with 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. This will take in stuff like the EFL Play Offs, FA Cup Final, final day of Prima Donna League, European Finals etc. It will be one matchday for the semis and one for the Final. It will be the individual scores for each matchday against the allotted opponent, with some kind of tie breaker for a drawn match.
So last season's matches would've been Baggiebob(BBB) v theo_luddite and jjamez v St Charles Owl and would've given a bit more to play for towards the back end of the season.
The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

We now have an Appeals Committee set up, consisting of me, myself and I. All appeals must be made before the next Matchday kicks off.

Friday 15th April:
Town v QPR (17:30)
Town scorers:
QPR scorers:

Luton Town v Nottingham Forest (12:30)
Birmingham City v Coventry City
AFC Bournemouth v Middlesbrough
Hull City v Cardiff City
Peterborough United v Blackburn Rovers
Preston North End v Millwall
Sheffield United v Reading
Stoke City v Bristol City
Swansea City v Barnsley
West Bromwich Albion v Blackpool
Derby County v Fulham (20:00)

Monday 18th April:
Middlesbrough v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Boro scorers:

Barnsley v Peterborough United
Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
Blackpool v Birmingham City
Cardiff City v Luton Town
Coventry City v AFC Bournemouth
Millwall v Hull City
Queens Park Rangers v Derby County
Reading v Swansea City
Bristol City v Sheffield United (17:30)
Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion (20:00)

Tuesday 19th April:
Fulham v Preston North End

Bonus matches:
Scottish Cup semi finals:
Saturday:
Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian (12:15)

Sunday:
Celtic v Rangers (14:00)

FA Cup semi finals:
Saturday:
Manchester City v Liverpool (15:30)

Sunday:
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (16:30)

Table after Matchday 37:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 893 pts
   
2. jjamez = 848 pts
   
3. St Charles Owl = 823 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 815 pts
   
5. themaclad = 800 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 792 pts
   
7. neonfoxinthebox = 771 pts
   
8. SHEP_HTAFC = 731 pts
   
9. ritchiebaby = 710 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 646 pts
    
11. WakeyTerrier = 617 pts

It's grand national weekend, and the runners and riders are preparing for the final hurdles. Huddersfield have the handicap of going last this weekend as they face fellow runner Luton at the John Smiths Stadium on Monday evening. The Hatters have a prime position in the race sitting in 4th position right on the heels of Town in 3rd, they did however suffer a little stumble the other night as they failed to beat bottom side Peterborough, Jonson Clarke-Harris scoring late in proceedings after Danny Hylton had given Luton the lead.
The other runners and riders all have to face off against each other, much like Town do in the coming weeks. This weekend sees 6th placed Sheffield United play 2nd placed Bournemouth in the early kick off on Saturday. 5th placed Nottingham Forest play Birmingham City, 7th placed Middlesbrough host Hull, Blackburn who are fast losing the pace of the race face Lancashire rivals Blackpool, whilst a QPR side that have fallen away quicker than a sinking stone travel to Preston, Millwall and West Brom are not theoretically out of it, but it is a huge ask, they face Barnsley and Stoke respectively.

In other news there is also a big horse race going on, who is everyone backing, if you are that way inclined?




Going back to our visitors on Monday, Luton as mentioned failed to beat the leagues whipping boys in Peterborough on Tuesday night and will be looking to set that right. The two sides last met in October when they played out a very forgettable draw, the fact that I actually had to search it to find out what happened says it all. Since then it has been pretty good sailing for both sides, obviously as both sit with eyes and aspirations on promotion to the Premier League, could you imagine little old Huddersfield or little old Luton hosting top division big dogs such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton?

Town faced Luton on the first weekend of October and followed that up with a trip to the den to face the lions of Millwall. Harry Cornick bagged a brace for the Hatters as they ran out 2-0 winners, Jedwood Wallace missed a penalty for the hosts. Town meanwhile hosted Hull and also ran out 2-0 winners thanks to diddy Duane and Tom Lees. Next up was a trip to the midlands to face Wayne Rooneys Derby County. Luton fell behind through a Tom Lawrence goal, but hit back through Fred Onyediinma, Jason Knight put Derby back ahead but Elijah Adebayo equalised with just minutes to go for the Hatters. Town played out a boring 0-0 against Birmingham, enough said. Back with home comforts and the Hatters hosted Hull, Adebayo was on the scoresheet once again as they won 1-0, Huddersfield meanwhile suffered their customary defeat away at Bournemouth, losing 3-0. To finish the month, Luton were on the road to Preston and left empty handed as Emil Riis Jakobsen scored a brace as Preston ran out 2-0 victors, Town meanwhile beat Millwall 1-0 thanks to a goal from prolific goalscorer Jonny Hogg.



November started with Luton beating Middlesbrough, then managed by Neil Warnock, 3-1 at Kennilworth Road. Warnock had never lost to Luton in his previous 12 games and found his side 1-0 up through Josh Coburn, but Luton hit back in the space of 5 second half minutes when Sonny Bradley, Adebayo and Cornick turned the game on its head. Town meanwhile suffered the same result as Luton away at Peterborough, a late Clarke-Harris goal cancelling out Danny Wards goal in a 1-1 draw. Next up for Luton was the visit of Stoke, who left Bedfordshire with all three points thanks to a goal from former Barnsley man Jacob Brown midway through the first half. Town too suffered defeat in Wales to Cardiff City, Sinani put Town ahead but Keiffer Moore scored two late goals to send Town home with nowt. It was two defeats in two for Luton as they lost 2-0 to QPR, former Town loanee Chris Willock opened the scoring for Rangers after Luton keeper Simon Sluga went walkabout, before everyones favourite player Charlie Austin double the advantage as the hoops ran out 2-0 winners. An early Sinani goal saw Town past 10 man West Brom at the John Smiths Stadium. Luton were back on the road again, this time to Nottingham as they played out a 0-0 draw. Forest saw Jack Colback sent off and Luton saw Adebayo miss a penalty, whilst Town also lost to QPR through a late Luke Amos goal. A miserable November was rounded off with a 2-1 defeat at home to Cardiff for Luton, Rubin Colwill (no relation to Levi... I think) opened the scoring for the Bluebirds and whilst Jordan Clark equalised for the Hatters, former Town loanee Sean Morrison sent the blues back to Wales with 3 points. Town meanwhile suffered a deserved 2-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough, now managed by Chris Wilder, Duncan Watmore scored a brace in the first half, Town got a late consolation through a Luke Daniels own goal, but a lot of us had left by that point.

A new month and a better start for Luton as they travelled to the seaside to face the Tangerines of Blackpool. The Hatters were able to leave with 3 points and a stick of rock thanks to goals from Bradley in the first half and then Adebayo and Clark in the second half. Talking of the beach, life is anything but that for Barnsley and it pretty much remained that way as the Tykes and Terriers played out a 1-1 draw. Lewis O'brien gave Town the lead before Carlton Morris equalised for the reds, Town had the chances in the second half but were unable to take any and had to settle for the point. An impressive 1-1 draw against Fulham was next for the Hatters and it would also signal the last match of 2021 for them too due to postponements. Some guy called Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring for the Cottagers but fellow hitman Adebayo equalised in the second half to get the Hatters a share of the points. Meanwhile, Town too played out a draw, somewhat fortunately against Mark Robins' Coventry City. Town took the lead through Danny Ward but conceded a late equaliser when Matt Godden scored in the 93rd minute. But Town had been completely outplayed in the game and didn't even deserve the point.



The next time Luton kicked a ball in anger was in the FA Cup against League Two Yorkshiremen Harrogate. The game finished 4-0 to Luton, but Harrogate, who fielded two Huddersfield loanees in the form of Brahima Diarra and Josh Austerfield gave a good account of themselves. Adebayo gave the Hatters the lead in the 18th minute, before Huddersfield born Cameron Jerome doubled the lead in the 50th minute. The League Two side ran out of steam and conceded two late goals from Kai Naismith and Luke Berry. The Terriers had sealed their place in the next round the day before thanks to a 2-1 win over Premier League Burnley. Jay Rodriguez opened the scoring for the Clarets in the first half before two late goals from Josh Koroma and Matty Pearson saw Town through. A late stunner from Naismith saw Luton upset Bournemouth 3-2. A Lloyd Kelly own goal put Luton ahead before Allan Campbell doubled the lead before half time. The Cherries hit back after the break when goals from Emilliano Marcondes and Morgan Rogers pulled them back level, but a swerving strike from Naismith in the 97th minute sealed the points for the Hatters. Town played out yet another draw, this time at home to Swansea. Sinani gave Town the lead in the first half, and Town should have capitalised on it but found former clown Ben Hamer equal to most efforts. The side then started to sit back deeper and deeper until Flynn Downes equalised for the Swans and Town hung on for the point. In the midweek, Luton played one of their games in hand against struggling Reading. The Royals didn't prove to be much of a match for Luton as a Tom Holmes own goal and another goal from Campbell saw the Hatters leave the Select Car Leasing Stadium with 3 points. It was a bit of a come down for Luton as they travelled to Yorkshire to face Sheffield United. Goals from Rhian Brewster and Jack Robinson saw the Blades to victory whilst Luton also saw Reece Burke given a straight red for a foul on Brewster. Town had made the trip down to Reading and picked up where Luton left off, putting 4 past them, whilst they did manage to score 3, but who's counting? Lucas Joao put the Royals ahead, before Sinani equalised minutes later, Danny Ward scored his first of the afternoon to put Town ahead, but Puscas equalised, again minutes later and it wasn't long before Ward had his second of the afternoon, it was 3-2 after just 25 minutes. Michael Morrison equalised again for Reading before half time, but in a quieter second half, Ward completed his hattrick and sealed a thrilling win for Town. Another midweek catch up game for Luton as they hosted Bristol City. Tom Lockyer gave the Hatters the lead before half time, but Andi Weimann equalised just after it but Adebayo was on hand to grab the three points for Luton in the 68th minute to keep them within touching distance of the playoff places. Luton finished January off with a 0-0 at home to Blackburn, whilst Town drew 1-1 at home to Stoke, with Koroma, lucky to still be on scoring for Town before bees knees Brown equalised late on for Stoke.



February began with a 1-0 win over Swansea for Luton, with Harry Cornick seeing the Hatters leave Wales with 3 points. Town played a day later against Derby and took their time to get past them after Richard Stearman had seen an early red. Duane Holmes scored against his old club, whilst Jordan Rhodes scored his first and only goal of the season for Town. Next up was the next round of the FA Cup and both sides played host to lower league opposition (sort of). Luton travelled to Cambridge and ran out 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Reece Burke and Carlos Mendes Gomes in the first half and a late goal from Admiral Muskwe. Town hosted Barnsley at a very wet and windy John Smiths and a single Duane Holmes goal was enough to see the Terriers in the hat for the next round. The following Tuesday, Luton hosted Barnsley themselves and took the lead in the first half through Campbell before Morris equalised on the stroke of half time. Trusty scorer Adebayo sealed the points from the penalty spot in the second half. Town played a day later away at Preston and drew 0-0. A surprise result at St Andrews followed as Birmingham cruised past Luton 3-0, Bacuna, fresh from his spell in Scotland scored his first goal for the club before Lyle Taylor and Onel Hernadez sealed the points for the Blues. Town meanwhile drew 0-0 against Sheffield United but were unlucky to do so due to some dodgy refereeing decisions. There was a bounce back from Luton as they beat Steve Bruce's West Brom 2-0 thanks to goals from Jerome and Campbell, Town meanwhile travelled to the capital and caused an upset as they left Craven Cottage with all 3 points thanks to a 2-1 win over Fulham, Danny Ward opened the scoring for Town before Town finally scored a penalty as Holmes tucked away from the spot, Bobby De Cordova Reid made it a tense finish but Town emerged victorious. The bounceback continued as Luton headed to the Potteries to face Stoke. Danny Hylton opened the scoring for the Hatters before Jerome doubled the lead. Lewis Baker scored in second half injury time but the points went to Nathan Jones' side meaning he had a happy night at his former club. Town left it late to come back and win against Cardiff, Tommy Doyle opened the scoring for the Bluebirds, before Josh Koroma equalised in the 88th minute, and in the 96th minute Jon Russell scored his first actual goal for the club to seal the three points. Danny Hylton was again on hand to score the only goal of the game as Luton beat Derby 1-0 at Kennilworth Road in what had been a fairly even game. Town meanwhile headed to the Leaky Blinders and left with 3 points thanks to goals from Levi Colwill on his birthday and Lewis O'brien.



Into March and Luton began with the FA Cup tie against Chelsea. They got off to a flier when Reece Burke put them ahead after just 2 minutes but Chelsea better call Saul and he answered as he put them back on level terms before Cornick scored Luton's second of the night just before half time. Chelsea regrouped at the break and found an equaliser midway in the second half through Timo Werner before Romelu Lukaku scored what proved to be the winner ten minutes later.  Town were also knocked out at the hands of Nottingham Forest in the same round. Tom Lees put Town ahead but goals from Ryan Yates and Sam Surridge saw Forest through. That'll teach Town to line up with no strikers. Back in League action and Luton suffered a miserable trip to Middlesbrough...like most people do. Paddy Mcnair gave Boro the lead from the spot in the 16th after Burke fouled Balogun, before Watmore sealed the game in the 87th minute, Luton pulled a 96th minute consolation goal back through Harry Cornick. Town meanwhile ran out 3-0 victors over Peterborough thanks to goals from Sinani and a brace from Tom Lees. Another midweek game to catch up and another goal for Adebayo saw Luton edge past Coventry 1-0, Town weren't in action as they faced West Brom on the Friday, Town took a 2-0 lead thanks to a Danny Ward brace but squandered it in 2 second half minutes late on as ex Terrier Karlan Grant scored from the spot and long haired bean pole Andy Carroll scored an unmarked header. Luton played on the Sunday at home to QPR and took the lead midway through the first half through Cameron Jerome. Rangers turned it around however in the second half with goals from Andre Grey and Rob Dickie. Luton put that disappointment behind them with an emphatic 4-0 win at home to Preston. Luke Berry scored a first half brace with Onyedinma scoring in between, in the second half former Barnsley defender Bambo Diaby put into his own net to seal the 4-0 victory. Town had a miserable trip to the capital as former loanee Benik Afobe came back to haunt them with a brace as Millwall eased past Town 2-0. March finished with Luton travelling up to Humberside to face Hull. It started off well for the Hatters as Adebayo put them ahead in the 9th minute and it got better from there. Harry Cornick made it two in the second half before James Bree scored a 3rd with under 20 minutes to go, Hull managed to put a blemish on the Luton scorecard when Tom Eaves scored an injury time consolation. Town were torn apart at home to automatic hopefuls Bournemouth. Jaidon Anthony opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Jefferson Lerma doubled it a short while later. Dominic Solanke made it 3 straight after halftime and Town never looked like causing any trouble. Luton began April at home to Millwall but saw themselves fall behind through a Tom Bradshaw goal in the 25th minute, Adebayo was on hand to level things up a few minutes later before Afobe continued his scoring spree late in the second half to put the Lions 2-1 up, the lead was short lived as Jake Cooper conceded an own goal to give both sides a share of the spoils. Town played a day before and required a late Harry Toffolo goal to see them past a 10 man Hull who saw Tom Eaves sent off for two yellow cards in the first half.



In terms of leading performers it should come as no surprise that Elijah Adebayo is leading the scoring charts for Luton with 16 goals this campaign, Harry Cornick sits in second with 11 goals, and Luke Berry third on 7 despite only playing 15 games this season. In terms of creating, Cameron Jerome leads the assists charts with 7, whilst Naismith and Bree both have 6, Bree leading the way in terms of chances created with 57 this campaign.

So who should we be on the look out for on Monday?

Well, obviously Adebayo, the former Walsall man was all but set to sign for Town the other January, but Town pulled out of the deal due to Walsall moving the goalposts on us and we decided to sign Yaya Sanogo and haven't looked back since... Adebayo has been relinked with us for a summer move but it reeks of shoddy journalism using us seeing as we have been linked before rather than having anything concrete.

Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and Allan Campbell offer hustle and bustle in the middle of midfield and will both prove interesting competition for the Town midfielders. Mpanzu is fairly short but strong on the ball and enjoys making in the words of Michael Hefele, the 'tough tacklings'

Kai Naismith once an attacking midfielder come wing back has recently found himself as part of a back three along with full back James Bree with the third slot being rotated between Peter Kioso and Dan Potts, although it wouldn't surprise me if Sonny Bradley comes back in as I believe he has been out injured. Bradley is usually a rock at the heart of the Luton defence and formed a solid alliance with Matty Pearson before he joined us. If Luton do go with a back three consisting of an attacking wing back and a full back, it'll be interesting to see how Town go about their front line and how they set about creating chances.



In terms of team news, Luton will be without defender Gabriel Osho after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, whilst Tom Lockyer missed out against Peterborough through injury. Former Forest man Henri Lansbury will be pushing for a recall after losing his place to Danny Hylton. As for Town, if the training videos are anything to go by, then Ward and Hogg will both be pushing for recalls to the starting line up, whilst Pearson has picked up an injury and will miss out against his former side. Tino Anjorin missed the Hull game with a toe injury and could return to the bench after returning to training, Aaron Rowe and Danny Grant featured for the B team during the week but it is unlikely that they will feature on the bench any time soon. Duane Holmes appears to be most at threat for losing his place with Sinani likely to return into the midfield.

In the January window, Luton were fairly inactive, with only a few signings. Former Town loanee Jed Steer joined on loan from Aston Villa, but he has since got injured and hasn't featured since Luton played Derby. Peter Kioso saw his loan at MK Dons end and has returned to the Hatters and has started to feature more, he is the cousin of midfielder Mpanzu. Former Leeds and Scotland winger Robert Snodgrass joined on a free transfer in February. He had seen his contract at West Brom terminated on deadline day. Another keeper in Alex Palmer joined on an emergency loan in March as Steer and James Shea were unavailable, he has now returned to West Brom.

In terms of outgoings, Glen Rea moved to Wigan on loan, but a recent injury has led to him returning to Luton for treatment. Dion Pereira joined League Two strugglers Bradford City on a free transfer, whilst Keeper Simon Sluga left to join Ludogrets in Bulgaria where he can expect to come up against former Town loanee Graham Carey who plays out there for CSKA Sofia.



Its an unhappy head to head for Town when it comes to facing the Hatters, with Luton winning 12 compared to Towns 9, with 6 draws between the two sides. The first meeting between the two sides came back on the 1tth October 1952 when the Terriers won 3-0, now key question, did anyone on here go to that match? The two sides met sporadically through the 60's to the 80's with Luton coming out on top in those games. Since Town relegation and silly Luton Town away song, we are yet to beat the Hatters. Luton did the double over Town in the first season, with Mark Hudson's side losing 2-1 at Kennilworth road, Grant opened the scoring before James Collins and Andrew Shinnie put Luton ahead. The game also saw Rajiv Van La Parra taken off at half time, before being sold the next day. In the return fixture, Danny Cowley's side was beaten 2-0 to put Town at risk of consecutive relegations, Sonny Bradley and Elliott Lee scored for the Hatters that day. Last season it was a pair of draws for the two sides, in the first meeting at the John Smiths, George Moncur opened the scoring for Luton before Carel Eiting equalised for Town. The return fixture in Bedfordshire saw Town once again fall behind with James Collins scoring for the Hatters before Naby Sarr equalised for Town who saw Toffolo sent off in injury time, although he would miss more than his allotted suspension due to a back injury.



Carlos' words




Played for both anagrams

1- Phone At Warmest
2- Canoe Smith
3- A Win Or Banish
4- A Jock Reins
5- All Even King


There is another quiz, but it isn't fully ready yet, so it will appear in the comments soon enough

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE 8 QPR 5

QPR HERO

Rodney William Marsh (11 October 1944) is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster. A forward, he won nine caps for England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal.

Brought up in the East End of London, he played youth football for West Ham United before he made his professional debut with Fulham in March 1963. He scored 22 goals in 63 First Division games before falling out with the management and taking a £15,000 transfer to Queens Park Rangers in March 1966. He helped the club to the 1967 League Cup and to consecutive promotions through the Third Division and Second Division. In March 1972 he was sold to Manchester City for £200,000. He featured in the 1974 League Cup final defeat but his time in Manchester was largely disappointing and he left the UK the following year to play for American club Tampa Bay Rowdies.

He had a successful career with the Rowdies and went on to coach the club from 1984 to 1986 after previously having brief spells coaching New York United and the Carolina Lightnin'. In the 1990s he began work as a broadcaster on Sky Sports, before he was sacked in January 2005. Since that time he has appeared on numerous reality television shows, and helped to run an American-based property development company with his son. In 2015, Marsh started co-hosting a radio show about football on SiriusXM, titled Grumpy Pundits. His co-host is Irish broadcaster Tommy Smyth.


Queens Park Rangers
Marsh moved across West London to join Queens Park Rangers, then in the Third Division, after manager Alec Stock paid out a £15,000 fee in March 1966.[16] QPR finished third at the end of the 1965–66 campaign, eight points outside promoted Millwall.

His first full season with Rangers was his most successful, as he formed an effective strike partnership with Les Allen, whilst Roger Morgan and Mark Lazarus delivered reliable service from the wings.[17] Marsh scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over Middlesbrough.[18] He scored 44 goals in 53 games as the club became Third Division champions; his 30 league goals made him the division's top-scorer. QPR also won the League Cup, with Marsh setting Rangers on their way with four goals during a 5–0 victory over Colchester United at Layer Road.[18] They needed a replay to overcome Aldershot, before they beat Swansea Town, top-flight Leicester City, Carlisle United and Birmingham City. Their opponents in the Wembley final were West Bromwich Albion, who had won the cup the previous year. The "Baggies" took a two-goal lead before half-time, but Rangers fought back in the second half and on the 75th minute Marsh scored what he described as "the defining goal of my career" when he made a mazy run past numerous defenders before finding the net with a 25-yard shot that went in off the post.[11][19] Lazarus scored QPR's third goal six minutes later to win the game 3–2.[20] A week after the final Tottenham Hotspur manager witnessed Marsh put in a strong performance against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and he offered to pay QPR £180,000 for Marsh and Morgan, but his offer was rejected by chairman Jim Gregory.[17]

The 1967–68 season saw a second successive promotion as QPR reached the First Division as runners-up in the Second Division, ahead of Blackpool on goal average. Marsh was again top-scorer with 14 goals despite missing the start of the season with a broken foot.[11] He signed a new four-year contract in the summer.[11]

Rangers were unable to compete in the top-flight, and Marsh himself struggled with injury as the club suffered relegation with only 18 points to their name.[16] He broke his foot in pre-season training for the 1968–69 campaign and missed the opening months; during this time the club struggled as Stock resigned before the season started, and he was replaced by Bill Dodgin in a caretaker capacity.[21] By the time Marsh recovered from his injury manager Tommy Docherty's first 28-day spell in charge at Loftus Road had come and gone.[22]

In summer 1969, Marsh was sent off in a friendly against Rangers after punching Kai Johansen in retaliation for a kick Johansen gave Marsh.[23] In the 1969–70 season he and Barry Bridges shared 46 goals equally between them, as QPR finished in ninth position. They also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which was then the club's joint-best achievement in the competition.

Marsh again hit 23 goals in the 1970–71 campaign, as Rangers again finished in mid-table obscurity under the stewardship of Gordon Jago. However Marsh lost his captaincy to new signing Terry Venables.[24]

He hit 20 goals in the 1971–72 season to finish as the club's top-scorer for the second successive season. Before the season began he signed a new contract on the understanding that he would leave the club if they could not achieve promotion by the end of the season.[24] QPR were still in the hunt for promotion by the time that Marsh was sold – they eventually finished a few points short, however the sum offered by Manchester City was too much for the club to refuse.[25]

PNE Team News

Liam Lindsay will serve the second and final game of his suspension in this fixture following his red card in the defeat against Derby County.

Ched Evans, who missed Tuesday’s Lancashire derby victory over Blackpool through injury, will be assessed ahead of the weekend.

There are no fresh injury concerns, though, with everybody coming through the midweek win unscathed.

The Opposition


Queens Park Rangers have spent the large majority of the campaign occupying a Play-Off spot and at times even pushing towards automatics.

However, their recent form has seen their chances of finishing in the top six diminish, with the R’s having lost six of their last seven matches.

Currently five points outside of the Play-Off spots, a shot at promotion is still on the cards, but they will need to put together a strong run in their final six games of the campaign in order to get there.

Key Stats

After collecting 16 points from a possible 18 on the road between November and January, QPR have struggled away from home lately, losing six of their last seven away games.

QPR’s main creative spark this season has been Chris Willock, having scored seven and assisted 11, but a hamstring injury has ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Josh Earl, who scored his first professional goal in the reverse fixture against the R’s, is one appearance away from making 100 in senior football.

Our Last Victory


PNE’s last win over QPR came in October 2020 away from home, with penalties either side of half-time from Daniel Johnson and Scott Sinclair securing the three points for Alex Neil’s team.

Man In The Middle


Tony Harrington will take charge of his first Preston North End game of the season on Saturday.

Harrington has, however, refereed 19 PNE matches in his career, with the most recent of them being the defeat at home to Brentford last term.

So far this campaign, he has held the whistle in 20 matches – including one Premier League fixture – and he has shown 65 yellow cards and one red.

MACS VIEW

Need to build on the win on Wednesday against a QPR side fast running out of time if they are to get a play off place, rumours that Warburton is going to get potted before his contract runs out before summer, probably a good time to play them.