Preston task not an easy one
Around 1500 Hibs fans head south to Preston on Saturday - they could find that Hibs face a stern test in their opening pre-season game

The build-up to the new season begins in deadly earnest on Saturday, with a visit to Preston in the first of a series of pre-season friendlies. As I have come to write it each week, I have had cause to think a lot about the Thursday column, and if there has been no game on a Wednesday, it is my intention to look ahead to the game at the weekend and to take a look at the opposition.

Preston North End ply their trade in the Nationwide League Division One. Informed opinion has it that whilst they are likely to be challenging for a play-off place, they lack the overall quality of some of the other teams in the division, although they tend to be much stronger at home, and are capable of beating most teams in the Division on their day. Indeed last season Preston scored 44 goals at home, conceding just 24. Away from home, they scored 29 and conceded 41, making them a much stronger proposition at home. That having been said, if Ricardo Fuller stays fit for the whole season, opinion may change. Like Hibs though, the question has to be just how long can cash-strapped Preston hold on to their best assets before interest from bigger clubs and financial necessity means that they move on?

Also interesting to note is that Preston North End have very good links with Manchester United and often take youngsters on loan, with a certain David Beckham having spent time at Deepdale. Those links have enabled Preston to snap up some talented players, with Hibs signing Colin Murdock and David Healey both having joined the club from United. Unfortunately no youngsters are currently on loan, depriving us of the opportunity to brag that "We'd seen him before he was famous" as many PNE fans currently do about David Beckham.

Morten Hyldgaard - could face a stern test at Deepdale (hibs.net)

Promoted to Nationwide League Division One in season 1999-2000 as runaway Champions, the North End almost went into the FA Premiership the following season, narrowly losing out in the play-offs. Sustaining their position proved problematic with the club slipping back to eighth the following season and mid-table twelfth in the season just ended. Nevertheless, their success meant that manager David Moyes became a target for a number of top clubs, Everton luring him away in March of 2002, the Merseysiders going from strength to strength since. The financial crisis in the Nationwide League has not escaped Preston North End, with players being offered reduced terms and others being offloaded, most notably Hibs target Colin Murdock who looks likely to line up against his former club.

Another parallel is that reading some of the website commentary, many fans regard this season as make or break time for former Scotland gaffer Craig Brown, who has a full season with what now constitutes “his” team after several new signings and departures, most recently midfield stalwart Mark Rankine, a popular figure with many supporters. Brown has used his knowledge of the Scottish game to make some decent-looking signings: Goalkeeper Johnathon Gould, Iain Anderson, Brian O’Neil, Graham Alexander and forward Simon Lynch will be familiar to followers of Scottish football. Of particular interest to Hibs fans will be former Hearts loan signing Ricardo Fuller, who I am sure will be reminded of his time in Gorgie by the Hibs faithful! A cruciate ligament injury ruled Fuller out of last season from November onwards, not before he had scored 9 goals from 18 appearances. The injury would have been galling for Fuller as he was beginning to attract serious attention from a number of top Premiership clubs. He is by all accounts raring to go after being declared fully fit, and will be anxious to prove that his injury has not dented his pace and trickery. Simon Lynch may well feature as a substitute, something he did eleven times (making 6 starts as well), last season after signing from Celtic in January.

Last season’s top scorer, with 16 goals was Richard Cresswell. However, the return of Fuller will intensify competition for places, particularly with the signing of giant South African International striker George Koutromantarakis, after a loan spell as Preston last season where he notched 3 goals from 10 starts, and was generally thought to have been impressive, his presence coinciding with a run where PNE won 6, drew 2 and lost 2.

From reading into commentary and the appearance statistics, PNE appear to line up with a 442 formation. However, the absence of winger Eddie Davis on Gold Cup duty with the USA might mean a change of formation. One thing for certain is that regardless of formation, right-back / wing back Graham Alexander will push up at every opportunity: his eleven goals last season meant that he was the club's second-highest scorer. As well as being the regular penalty-taker, he also takes a mean free-kick and will be capable of doing damage if allowed to. New signing Stephen Glass will need to be on his toes. Club Captain Lucketti is the mainstay of central defence, and a "natural leader" according to Craig Brown. Partners will probably come from Marlon Broomes, Brian O'Neil or the unfortunately-named Michael Jackson. Most of Preston's defenders are comfortably over six feet in height, suggesting that they may be vulnerable to the pace of Brown, Riordan or MacManus.

Midfield will be an interesting battleground, probably the most critical one of the match with Brebner and Murray most likely to be up against a combination of promising youngster Paul McKenna and the highly-rated midfield general Dickson Ethuhu. Speculation has linked Ethuhu with a move to Everton, the new club of his former manager David Moyes, and I am sure Ian Murray will be relishing the battle in order to prove that he is capable of playing at the highest level.

I am not in the business of making score predictions, but I think it will be interesting to see how PNE cope without mainstay Eddie Davis, and how Hibs new-look defence copes against a side with a potentially lethal amount of firepower and trickery upfront. I think there will also be opportunities for Hibs as well, and I expect both sides to score. If I was a betting man I’d go for a scoring draw.