The Fitness Test
Paul Heckingbottom will provide a team news update in his pre-match press conference.
The Hoops
Queens Park Rangers spent a lot of the early part of the season lingering in and around the relegation spots, however they’ve pushed themselves away from the bottom three in recent months.
The gap now stands at eight points and, like PNE, they’ll now be looking to close out the season in a positive fashion.
They arrive at Deepdale three matches without defeat, with a 3-1 victory over Oxford United within that run, and they’ll also have a part to play in the promotion picture as they’re set to take on Burnley and Sunderland in the final two games of the campaign.
The Officials
Referee: Jeremy Simpson
Assistant Referees: Sam Lewis and Hristo Karaivanov
Fourth Official: Ross Joyce
Jeremy Simpson will take charge of his first North End match since October 2023 on Friday.
That was a 2-2 draw at Deepdale against Southampton, and Simpson has twice officiated clashes between PNE and QPR, including the 1-0 home victory in December 2017.
So far this season, Simpson has shown 53 yellow cards and two reds in 13 matches.
Jeremy comes from Carnforth 20 miles north of Preston
T'other Champo Stuff
![[Image: Screenshot-2025-04-15-082507.png]](https://i.ibb.co/wZW8VtWf/Screenshot-2025-04-15-082507.png)
![[Image: Screenshot-2025-04-15-082533.png]](https://i.ibb.co/JWs0qH2D/Screenshot-2025-04-15-082533.png)
Still need a point or two to ensure safety although looking at the teams below us, they all play each other, you can almost smell the sun tan lotion.
Suspect this will be a draw
Paul Heckingbottom will provide a team news update in his pre-match press conference.
The Hoops
Queens Park Rangers spent a lot of the early part of the season lingering in and around the relegation spots, however they’ve pushed themselves away from the bottom three in recent months.
The gap now stands at eight points and, like PNE, they’ll now be looking to close out the season in a positive fashion.
They arrive at Deepdale three matches without defeat, with a 3-1 victory over Oxford United within that run, and they’ll also have a part to play in the promotion picture as they’re set to take on Burnley and Sunderland in the final two games of the campaign.
The Officials
Referee: Jeremy Simpson
Assistant Referees: Sam Lewis and Hristo Karaivanov
Fourth Official: Ross Joyce
Jeremy Simpson will take charge of his first North End match since October 2023 on Friday.
That was a 2-2 draw at Deepdale against Southampton, and Simpson has twice officiated clashes between PNE and QPR, including the 1-0 home victory in December 2017.
So far this season, Simpson has shown 53 yellow cards and two reds in 13 matches.
Jeremy comes from Carnforth 20 miles north of Preston
T'other Champo Stuff
Still need a point or two to ensure safety although looking at the teams below us, they all play each other, you can almost smell the sun tan lotion.
Suspect this will be a draw
Marti speaks
QPR head to Preston for our Good Friday fixture with a clear message from Martí Cifuentes – there is still work to be done.
Rangers are eight points clear of the bottom three with four games remaining, but the head coach said: “We're in a good position but mathematically it's not done. So I always say that until the job is done, we need to keep pushing, no matter what."
“I'm very aware of what the situation is but the most important thing for me is to finish in a good way.
“We are coming from a strong week with three strong results, especially the last two, and the target is to try to finish with as many points as we can.
“So we reached this first step that I've been talking about for months - 50 points usually mean safety. The reality is that it's not 100% done. It’s looking good but we want more.”
Last week, the R’s picked up five crucial points with draws against Cardiff City (0-0) and Bristol City (1-1) sandwiching a 3-1 win at Oxford United. It was a set of results which brought praise from Cifuentes for the way his players handled the mental challenge.
“I think the guys did really well because in the first game against Cardiff we knew about the difference in the table, the points between both teams, and the guys responded really well,” he said.
“Perhaps it was not the best performance of the season, far from it, but at the same time I don't think it was a brilliant football game for either of the teams because it takes a toll on the performance as well - the emotions, the nerves, the pressure of these kinds of games.
“I think the team responded at a really high level against Oxford, playing away against a team that definitely needed the points as well. The way we started the game, the way we performed - and not only the first half, but until we conceded the goal in a very unfortunate situation.
“And then it's true that those minutes after they scored the goal were a bit more nervy but then it was very important, the response, the third goal, the way we competed until the last second of the game was brilliant."
Shutterstock
“I think that all these emotions were important to keep building, and the way we started the game against Bristol City was brilliant.”
The Lilywhites currently sit one place and one point below the R’s in the Championship but they pose a threat at Deepdale which Cifuentes is aware of.
They have lost only two league games at home all season – the last being in November – and Cifuentes said: “I think that everybody who knows the Championship knows about Preston, knows about Preston at home, and they are this physical team that is very good on set pieces, that will be direct, that will play in a style of football that if you are not very focused, very concentrated, it's easy for them to punish the opposition and to create chances and to score.
“The reality is that it's always a difficult game to play there, and we need to be prepared for the kind of game that will be quite different than what we play, for instance, against Bristol City.”
Cifuentes confirmed Ilias Chair is closing in on a return to action while a late decision will be made on Kenneth Paal
“We have good news on Ilias,” he said.
“This week he has been training with the group at a high level, showing big energy, and he's getting closer and closer.
“We're going to do some tests with Ken Paal and take a decision together with him because we know that it's not only about the game against Preston, but as well three days after we play against Swansea.”
QPR head to Preston for our Good Friday fixture with a clear message from Martí Cifuentes – there is still work to be done.
Rangers are eight points clear of the bottom three with four games remaining, but the head coach said: “We're in a good position but mathematically it's not done. So I always say that until the job is done, we need to keep pushing, no matter what."
“I'm very aware of what the situation is but the most important thing for me is to finish in a good way.
“We are coming from a strong week with three strong results, especially the last two, and the target is to try to finish with as many points as we can.
“So we reached this first step that I've been talking about for months - 50 points usually mean safety. The reality is that it's not 100% done. It’s looking good but we want more.”
Last week, the R’s picked up five crucial points with draws against Cardiff City (0-0) and Bristol City (1-1) sandwiching a 3-1 win at Oxford United. It was a set of results which brought praise from Cifuentes for the way his players handled the mental challenge.
“I think the guys did really well because in the first game against Cardiff we knew about the difference in the table, the points between both teams, and the guys responded really well,” he said.
“Perhaps it was not the best performance of the season, far from it, but at the same time I don't think it was a brilliant football game for either of the teams because it takes a toll on the performance as well - the emotions, the nerves, the pressure of these kinds of games.
“I think the team responded at a really high level against Oxford, playing away against a team that definitely needed the points as well. The way we started the game, the way we performed - and not only the first half, but until we conceded the goal in a very unfortunate situation.
“And then it's true that those minutes after they scored the goal were a bit more nervy but then it was very important, the response, the third goal, the way we competed until the last second of the game was brilliant."
Shutterstock
“I think that all these emotions were important to keep building, and the way we started the game against Bristol City was brilliant.”
The Lilywhites currently sit one place and one point below the R’s in the Championship but they pose a threat at Deepdale which Cifuentes is aware of.
They have lost only two league games at home all season – the last being in November – and Cifuentes said: “I think that everybody who knows the Championship knows about Preston, knows about Preston at home, and they are this physical team that is very good on set pieces, that will be direct, that will play in a style of football that if you are not very focused, very concentrated, it's easy for them to punish the opposition and to create chances and to score.
“The reality is that it's always a difficult game to play there, and we need to be prepared for the kind of game that will be quite different than what we play, for instance, against Bristol City.”
Cifuentes confirmed Ilias Chair is closing in on a return to action while a late decision will be made on Kenneth Paal
“We have good news on Ilias,” he said.
“This week he has been training with the group at a high level, showing big energy, and he's getting closer and closer.
“We're going to do some tests with Ken Paal and take a decision together with him because we know that it's not only about the game against Preston, but as well three days after we play against Swansea.”
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?