Preston North End return to action after the October international break on Saturday afternoon, when they make the long trip south to take on Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

Alex Neil's side go into the game off the back of an impressive start to the season, which has seen them climb to third in the Championship standings after 11 games of the campaign.

By contrast Reading have endured a difficult start to the season, and go into this one sat inside the relegation, with Mark Bowen set to take charge of his first game as Royals manager, following the sacking of Jose Gomes earlier this month.

It could be argued therefore that Neil and his side may see this as an opportunity to lay down a marker to the rest of the Championship about Preston's intentions this season.

Here, we've taken a look at the starting XI the Preston boss may want to name in order to do that.

Having signed off from the last round of games with a 5-1 thrashing of another struggling side in the form of Barnsley, Neil may not feel as though he has to change too much here, although there may still be a few alterations.

In goal, Declan Rudd should continue for Preston, just as he has done throughout the league campaign so far this season.

The most likely changes for Preston on Saturday will be in the full-back areas, where Darnell Fisher and Andrew Hughes could be set to return from suspension and injury respectively, although Joe Rafferty may be disappointed to lose his place at left-back as a result of that.

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In the centre of defence meanwhile, Ben Davies and Patrick Bauer should continue their partnership which has been so effective for Preston up until now this season.

Ahead of them, Fisher's return at right-back could allow Alan Browne - who filled in on the right of defence against Barnsley - to return to a holding midfield role alongside Ben Pearson, giving Preston a potentially welcome added bit of physicality against a tough Reading side, with 35-year-old club captain Paul Gallagher an option to make an impact from the bench if needed.

Having run riot against Barnsley, we expect the attacking personnel to remain much the same for Preston at the Madejski.

Daniel Johnson produced yet another outstanding in the victory over the Tykes with two goals and an assist for the also dangerous Tom Barkhuizen, while Sean Maguire will count himself unlucky not to have got on the scoresheet last time out after his linkup with Johnson.

With Alex Neil having spoken of his delight at his performance against Barnsley, 35-year-old veteran David Nugent could once again get the nod to lead the line, with the international break giving him plenty of time to get ready to go again here.