Preston take on Huddersfield Town tonight and the two sides are in different places than their Carabao Cup meeting earlier this season.
North End make their second trip to West Yorkshire of the season tonight, taking on the Terriers in a crucial Championship clash.
Ryan Lowe really can’t afford to go into Saturday’s derby clash against rivals Blackpool with three straight defeats.
Losses to Bristol City and Stoke City have come as major blows after beating West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City.
Lowe will want a response tonight and he has already picked up one win at the John Smith’s Stadium this season.
Preston went away to Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup back in August and ran out 4-1 winners in the summer sun.
The nights have drawn in since then, the patience has worn thin for some and neither side is in the same position as that night two months ago.
Preston were in the goals that night, racking up four inside 51 minutes before a Jordan Rhodes consolation.
North End have only managed eight league goals since that night and what looked like the attack clicking against Huddersfield proved to be a false dawn.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield fans were growing concerned about their start to the season under Carlos Corberan’s replacement Danny Schofield.
Schofield was sacked in September and Huddersfield found their replacement towards the end of the month as Mark Fotheringham came in.
Huddersfield took a punt on the Scot as he moved into his first managerial post, having previously served as assistant coach at Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin.
Going for a rookie manager was always going to be a risk but Huddersfield have shown some fight under Fotheringham.
The 3-3 draw at Luton Town as a great example of that and Fotheringham landed his first win earlier this month with a 2-0 victory over Hull City.
Fotheringham has won his only home game in charge of Huddersfield and will now hope to make that two from two tonight.
Preston can expect a much sterner test this evening than they received in August and with the pressure on Lowe to get a result ahead of a huge game this weekend, North End need to rise to the occasion this week.