Preston North End travel to Fulham on Saturday looking to recover from the 2-0 defeat they suffered at league leaders West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night.

Despite the defeat at West Brom Preston remain three points clear of seventh placed Bristol City heading into the weekend, so Alex Neil’s side will be hoping they can produce an improved performance against promotion rivals Fulham and secure a win that would close the gap on the London club to just a point.

The Lilywhites have lost two of their last three matches, having gone unbeaten in their six league games prior to their recent run, so Preston will be needing to get themselves back on track to avoid allowing the teams below them to close the gap on them in the race for the play-offs.

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Neil’s side will be hopeful they can have Josh Harrop back available to return to the squad, after the Preston manager confirmed that he had missed out on the defeat at West Brom with a hamstring injury, with the Lilywhites not having wanted to risk the forward at the Hawthorns on Tuesday.

Preston will though remain without the presence of Billy Bodin, with the forward having been out of action for over a month now with an Achilles injury, although Neil confirmed in his press conference ahead of the Lilywhites’ meeting with Fulham, that the 27-year-old is continuing to make good progress in his recovery.

The Lilywhites will also remain without Tom Bayliss, with Neil having confirmed in his press conference ahead of last weekend’s clash with Hull City that the midfielder could be set to miss the rest of the season, having had surgery on an ankle injury he suffered in training last month.

Other than that though, Preston managed to get through the game against West Brom with no more injury concerns, which means that Neil should have a fairly strong squad to select from at Craven Cottage, as the Lilywhites look to get back on track.