Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to follow up Saturday's win over Coventry with another 3 points at home to Preston this evening with the visitors surely eager to show a positive response having lost 4-0 at QPR at the weekend.
Having kept a rare clean sheet it is unlikely that Wednesday will make any changes to the back four which means Richard Wood is not expected to be rushed back into the starting line up and so Mark Beevers should keep his place alongside Captain Darren Purse at the heart of the defence.
Etienne Esajas could be available again following illness but may have to settle for a place on the bench after an encouraging display from Jermaine Johnson against Coventry.
Up front Marcus Tudgay is not expected to be risked yet as the Owls look to take precautions over his neck injury. Leon Clarke and Luke Varney should be given the nod again with both Akpo Sodje and Francis Jeffers waiting in the wings should they fail to produce the goods.
Preston come to Hillsborough on the back of their worst league result of the season and boss Alan Irvine will be hoping for a marked improvement on the 4-0 reverse they suffered at QPR. North End could be boosted by the return of club captain Callum Davidson who has played in less than half of their games so far this season due to injury.
They will definitely be without injured Scottish midfielder Barry Nicholson but are likely to include local lads Chris Sedgwick and Neil Mellor.
Wednesday will be looking for successive wins for the first time this season - they did enjoy successive league wins over Scunthorpe and Plymouth but sandwiched those with a dismal defeat at Port Vale in the League Cup. Going into the game the Owls sit 3 points behind Preston who currently occupy 6th place in the Coca Cola Championship.
Having had a strong start to the season Preston have faltered somewhat of late, suffering three defeats in their last six league games. They have an away record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats so far this season.
The two sides have been in the same division for the past four seasons and honours have been pretty even over that period with two wins apiece and four draws. Last seasons meetings both resulted in 1-1 draws with Wednesday having relinquished the lead on both occasions.