A full complement of midweek Championship action is scheduled over the next two days, with one of the fixtures being Preston North End’s Wednesday evening meeting with league leaders Norwich City.

Alex Neil’s side are unbeaten in their last five matches and extended the gap from the teams below them and nudged slightly closer to the top half of the table, with a win over Bolton Wanderers last weekend.

North End have won three of their last four matches and are improving steadily – and could well be a dark horse for a late play-off run, should they continue on as they are.

Daniel Farke’s side, meanwhile, are 20 points better off than their hosts tomorrow evening and know they will be in for a challenge at Deepdale.

Norwich are unbeaten in their last six matches and have suffered just one defeat in their previous ten.

That form has seen them create a two point gap at the top of the league heading into the next round of games hoping to extend it to five before the weekend’s fixtures.

Ahead of the midweek round of matches, Sky Sports offered David Prutton the chance once more to predict the outcome of this particular fixture.

The EFL presenter said: “I like Preston. I think Alan Browne, with the kind of goal scoring form he's been in over the course of the season, adds to their threat and Tom Barkhuizen is also coming back from injury to show what he can do.

“There's just something about Norwich, though.

“The fact they've got so many goals out of Teemu Pukki is just fantastic; they are playing with confidence, they are playing with energy.

“Yes, it was a good result against Ipswich, but you presume that to be the case; the more eye-catching one was the win against Leeds the week before, 1-3.”

The verdict

Preston’s form may be solid but the Canaries are a runaway train and after last weekend’s demolition of local rivals Ipswich Town, I can’t see anything other than a Norwich win again.

It won’t be east at Deepdale, which is traditionally a tough place to go – especially on a weekday evening, but I think Farke’s men are up to the task.

David Prutton has gone for a 3-1 win for the visitors, and I would be inclined to agree with the EFL expert.