[themaclad]

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE  9 BOUREMOUTH 16

Returning hero of sorts

BEN PEARSON

Benjamin David Pearson (born 4 January 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club AFC Bournemouth.

Born in Oldham, he joined Manchester United at the age of 9 in July 2004 and worked his way up through the academy. He joined Barnsley on a one-month loan in January 2015, which was extended to a season-long loan. He then rejoined Barnsley on a six-month loan in July 2015, before signing for Preston North End in January 2016.

He has also represented England at youth international level, playing for the under-16s, under-17s, under-18s, under-19s and under-20s.

PNE Team News


Liam Lindsay will be unavailable for selection due to suspension after his sending off in last weekend's game against Coventry City.

Patrick Bauer, who missed the trip to Coventry through injury, is likely to miss out again, whereas Sean Maguire has now returned to training, but this game could come too soon for the Irishman.

Having played 60 minutes in the Central League on Tuesday, Josh Murphy is in contention again after more than four months out. Greg Cunningham and Tom Barkhuizen remain sidelined.

The Opposition


With 15 games left of their season, AFC Bournemouth arrive at Deepdale looking to continue their promotion push to the Premier League.

Heading into the weekend’s round of fixtures, Scott Parker’s men have a two-point buffer on Huddersfield Town, but with four games in hand over the Terriers, they are certainly in a favourable position.

The Cherries appear to have recovered from a turbulent run of form between November and January, helped by their seven January additions, which included Todd Cantwell and Siriki Dembélé.

Key Stats

PNE have enjoyed their recent form against AFC Bournemouth, having gone unbeaten in the last seven meetings with the last defeat against them coming in May 2012.

AFC Bournemouth have actually done better on their travels so far this season than at home, having picked up 31 points on the road, compared to 30 at Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries boast the division’s best defensive record, conceding just 27 goals in the Championship, however they have played fewer games than any team in the league.

Our Last Meeting


PNE ended AFC Bournemouth’s unbeaten start to the Championship season when they defeated the Cherries in early November 2021.

Goals from midfielders Ben Whiteman and Ali McCann either side of Philip Billing’s equaliser earned North End the impressive victory against the table toppers at the time.

Man In The Middle


Referee for this weekend’s fixture is Matt Donohue, taking charge of his second PNE game of the season.

Donohue was the main official for North End’s goalless draw against Birmingham City, and he has officiated 26 games in total this season, distributing 104 yellow cards and seven reds.

He will be assisted by Philip Dermott and James Wilson, while Darren Bond will be on fourth official duty.

MACS VIEW

A stern test against a side who since their shock defeat against Boreham Wood have won all three games, they brought in thiousands of players at the transfer deadline and have a strong squad to pick from, until the game at Dean Court they were unbeaten and we know what happened that night.

Finally would be remiss of me to not mention the passing of Ilene Booth a lovely woman who was the life and soul of the party on Coach 1 for away games.
About three years ago we played Norwich on a Wednesday night at Carrow Road, we got home at 5am, Ilene drove straight home to deliver free newspapers around the area were she lived at the time Ilene was 85 years old, a one of and will be sadly missed by a lot of people at Deepdale