With the Championship run-in hotting up in the final weeks of the season, Preston North End will welcome Huddersfield Town to Deepdale on Tuesday night.

The hosts sit seven points off the final playoff spot in the Championship table with a game in hand on sixth-placed Norwich City, while their visitors jumped out of the relegation zone with a crucial return to winning ways at the weekend.

Preston return to action on Tuesday night with the aim of keeping any faint Championship playoff hopes alive this season, having lost ground in the top-six race since the recent international break.

The Lancashire side sat in a relatively positive position prior to the break in play, having collected 56 points from 37 matches, and they strengthened their claim on their return to action with a 3-0 victory over bottom side Rotherham United at the end of March.

A trip to relegation-threatened Birmingham City quickly followed on Easter Monday, and Ryan Lowe’s side were unable to follow up the three-point haul, suffering a disapointing 1-0 defeat as Jay Stansfield scored the only goal 22 minutes from time.

Setting out to bounce back and keep pace with sixth-placed Norwich City and the chasing pack, Peston most recently travelled to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Saturday, and they left with a share of the spoils as neither team managed to break the deadlock.

Having dropped to 10th in the Championship as a result of their failure to build a sufficient run so far, Preston find themselves seven points off Norwich in the final top-six spot with six matches to play and one in hand.

However, with any faint hopes resting on a fine run to end the season and the likes of Norwich, Coventry City and Middlesbrough falling short, they will be desperate to return to winning ways at Deepdale on Tuesday night.

In their way stands a visiting side who are in desperate need of three more points in their fight at the other end of the division, having given their survival hopes a major boost at the weekend.

When Andre Breitenreiter took over at the John Smith’s Stadium in late February, Huddersfield sat in a concerning position just above the Championship relegation zone on 34 points from 33 league matches, and despite an opening win away at Watford, he was unable to inspire a climb away from the bottom three in the following weeks.

Huddersfield went on to endure a six-game run without another win, collecting just three points along the way, and after returning from the recent international break with a 3-1 defeat to Coventry City and a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Stoke City, they set out to bounce back in a pivotal encounter with Millwall on home turf on Saturday.

The game looked set to end goalless, but Rhys Healy popped up with a 94th-minute winner to snatch all three points for the Terriers in dramatic fashion, making it two Championship wins under Bretenreiter and nine for the season, just three of which have come away from home.

Having escaped the bottom three following that return to winning ways, although with just a one-point lead over 22nd-placed Birmingham City and 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday with five matches left to play, Huddersfield’s work is far from done and they will set out to correct their away form and make it back-to-back victories on Tuesday to establish a sight of cushion in their bid for survival this season.

Preston vs. Huddersfield Town Head to head

In the 54 previous meetings between these two teams, Preston have claimed 22 victories while Huddersfield have won 23, and they have drawn in nine. Huddersfield have scored 79 goals and conceded 83 in the process.

• 09/08/2022
  Huddersfield Town

  1

  Preston North End

  4
  League Cup
• 18/10/2022
  Huddersfield Town

  0

  Preston North End

  1
  Championship
• 26/12/2022
  Preston North End

  1

  Huddersfield Town

  2
  Championship
• 07/01/2023
  Preston North End

  3

  Huddersfield Town

  1
  FA Cup
• 12/12/2023
  Huddersfield Town

  1

  Preston North End

  3
  Championship