Big match focus: Bristol City v North End

MEET THE BOSS: Lee JohnsonHe was appointed Bristol City's head coach in February, succeeding Steve Cotterill who was dismissed 48 hours after Preston's 2-1 win at Ashton Gate the previous month.

Johnson was managing Barnsley at the time but was lured away to return to the club he served as a player, making nearly 200 appearances. His first managerial post had been at Oldham Atheltic, taking the Boundary Park job in 2013 at the age of 31.

MEET THE REF: Simon Hooper

The Wiltshire official is in charge of Preston’s visit to Ashton Gate. Earlier this season, Mr Hooper was in the middle for North End’s 3-2 extra-time victory over Bournemouth in the League Cup. Last term, he refereed PNE’s 1-1 draw at Ipswich and the 3-0 win over Charlton. In the summer he was appointed to the Select group 2 panel of referees in the Championship. This will be his 13th Championship game of the season.

THIS WEEK...

42 years ago: On November 14, 1974, Preston travelled to the North East and beat non-league Bishop Auckland 2-0 in the second round of the FA Cup. The goals came from Tony Morley and player/manager Bobby Charlton.

38 years ago: This week in December 1978, North End beat Charlton Athletic 6-1 at Deepdale. It was the club’s first season back in the Second Division and this win came in a run which put them back on track after a bad run. Eric Potts and Alex Bruce both scored twice, with Michael Robinson and Gordon Coleman netting the other two goals

20 years ago: On December 13, 1996, Preston met  rivals Blackpool at Deepdale in a televised game and  ran out 3-0 winners. Substitute Gary Bennett came off the bench to score twice, those goals sandwiching an effort from David Reeves.