Preview: Preston North End vs. Salford City - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, have been eliminated at the opening stage of this competition in three of their four campaigns competing in the Football League.

Match preview

Preston marked their ninth consecutive season in the Championship with a 1-1 draw away to Bristol City on Saturday, with Will Keane enjoying a debut to remember by grabbing an 86th-minute equaliser against Nigel Pearson's side.

The Lilywhites caught the nation's attention when keeping seven successive clean sheets from the beginning of last season, drawing five and winning two of those matches, before their run was finally brought to an end by a 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City in early September.

Ryan Lowe's side looked like pushing for their first play-off place in the second tier since 2009 before falling away during the latter stages of the season, claiming just one point from their final five matches to finish in 12th position.

Having finished between seventh and 14th in each of their eight campaigns since gaining promotion from League One in 2015, Preston have firmly established themselves as a solid mid-table side in the Championship, but they will be hoping for bigger and better things in the league and domestic cups this time around.

Salford, on the other hand, will have their sights almost solely set on finally gaining promotion from League Two, having lost in the play-off semi-finals last season.

Despite possessing one of the biggest budgets in the division, the Ammies had failed to claim a top seven spot in each of their three seasons following their promotion from the National League in 2019, but they improved under Neil Wood's management, ultimately losing to Stockport County on penalties to miss out on booking their place at Wembley.

Having lifted the EFL Trophy in 2020, Wood is unlikely to be too concerned about his side's progress in the domestic cups this season, especially having began the season as they intend to go on by winning 2-0 away to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.

However, he will be expecting a much better performance from his players than when they were thrashed by Bolton at this stage of the EFL Cup last season, as he will not want any potential defeat to damage their efforts when facing Crawley Town on Saturday.

Preston North End EFL Cup form:

Preston North End form (all competitions):

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Salford City EFL Cup form:

Salford City form (all competitions):

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Team News

Preston appear likely to remain without Ched Evans due to a knock, but otherwise Lowe should have a clean bill of health at his disposal.

The former Plymouth Argyle boss is likely to make wholesale changes from the side that drew away to Bristol City, with new signing Jack Whatmough expected to make his home debut for the club.

Salford, meanwhile, will be able to call upon the services of experienced defender Adrian Mariappa after leaving the former Watford man on the bench for their trip to Forest Green on Saturday.

Like his forthcoming counterpart, Wood is also expected to make several alterations to his starting XI, with towering centre-forward Matt Smith set to lead the visitors' line.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Cornell; Bauer, Whatmough, Cunningham; Ramsay, McCann, Whiteman, Leigh, Brady; Woodburn, Holmes

Salford City possible starting lineup:

Wright; Leak, Vassell, Mariappa; Watt, Ashley; McLennan, Bailey, Nmai, Berkoe; Smith

We say: Preston North End 1-0 Salford City

With both managers expected to make plenty of changes for this cup tie, Preston should be able to keep their League Two opponents at arm's length for the majority of the encounter.

Although Lowe's side clearly lack depth in offensive areas, they are generally very strong defensively and we can envisage them calling upon their solidity to secure a tight win.

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