Preston North End take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with midfielder Ali McCann now back in contention.
North End couldn’t enter this game with a more negative feeling around the club.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat Blackpool isn’t just another loss. Fans are understandably gutted with such a meek defeat at the hands of the Tangerines, and the negativity isn’t just an overreaction.
Preston look short of ideas on and off the pitch but must now take on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side.
We may not see Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk in action, with Liverpool likely to rotate their team.
Still, this will be a full house at Deepdale and Frankie McAvoy needs a response in order to ease the pressure on his job.
Nobody is expecting to beat Liverpool, but at least put in some fight after such a dismal showing at Bloomfield Road.
McAvoy is at least boosted by the return of midfielder Ali McCann.
The deadline day signing from St Johnstone started against Queens Park Rangers earlier this month but immediately suffered an injury.
After missing Northern Ireland’s international fixtures, McCann is now back available again and could face Liverpool according to McAvoy.
After not playing for a number of weeks, we would assume that McCann will be on the bench against Liverpool before stepping up his comeback.