Preston North End are preparing to take on Blackpool this weekend and that means returns to Bloomfield Road for Brad Potts and Ben Woodburn.
Ryan Lowe takes his side on the road again this weekend but it’s a shorter trip than on Tuesday night.
PNE beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 on Tuesday night with Greg Cunningham bagging the only goal of the game.
North End only have to head down the road on Saturday though as Blackpool are the hosts for the first instalment of this bitter rivalry this season.
The Tangerines won the same fixture 2-0 last year, almost to the day a PNE face another mid-October trip to Bloomfield Road.
Players will – or at least should – know what this fixture means.
Two PNE players have actually been behind enemy lines in the past and will be returning to their former stomping ground.
Brad Potts has the strongest connection to our biggest rivals.
Blackpool signed Potts from Carlisle United in 2015 and he racked up 98 appearances for the club, scoring 19 times.
Potts – with no beard or ponytail on show – actually scored for Blackpool in their 2-1 League Two play-off final win over Exeter City back in 2017.
The North End ace also bagged an assist on that day at Wembley Stadium.
Fast forward just 18 months and Potts was back in Lancashire having joined PNE from Barnsley.
Now playing as a right wing back rather than as a midfielder, Potts started against Huddersfield and is now in contention for a start against Blackpool.
The other name in the PNE squad that will be very familiar to Blackpool fans is that of Ben Woodburn.
Once a hot prospect at Liverpool, Woodburn needed minutes after mixed loan spells with Sheffield United and Oxford United.
Blackpool were more than happy to swoop in and sign Woodburn in October 2020, taking him on loan until January.
Neil Critchley took a chance on Woodburn having previously worked together at Liverpool but he failed to register a goal or assist in 11 games for Blackpool.
Woodburn, just like Potts, came into the side against Huddersfield and should be fit to play after suffering with cramp.
Woodburn will feel like he has something of a point to prove after his poor loan spell at Bloomfield Road and both players would no doubt love to leave the Fylde coast with a win this weekend.