Still searching for a first point: Alexander’s Preston face in-form West Brom at Deepdale
Thursday 22 October 2026 · By Ethan Sinclair
Preston North End have had a full week on the training ground to try to find some answers, and they will need them on Saturday. Bottom-of-the-table North End host fifth-placed West Brom at Deepdale (15:00 BST), with Graham Alexander still looking for his first point as manager.
Alexander has lost all three of his games in charge since replacing Paul Heckingbottom, who was sacked in September. The latest was a 4–1 defeat at Wrexham last Saturday, which followed a 4–0 loss at Birmingham on 13 October. Preston have only four points from 11 games, with one win, one draw and nine defeats, and they are two points behind Derby, who are 23rd.
The defensive record is the biggest worry. Preston have conceded 24 league goals, the most in the division, and have now gone 26 league games without a clean sheet. According to Sky Sports, that equals a club record set in 1969–70. Keeping West Brom out on Saturday would not only end that run but would give the whole squad a lift.
The team news, as reported by the Lancashire Evening Post, is not encouraging. Gibson is out, Lindsay is a doubt with a dead leg, and Wiley is not ready to return. McCann, Clarke and Gibbs are also out. There is one bit of good news: Stanley Mills is available again after serving his suspension, which gives Alexander another attacking option.
West Brom arrive in confident mood. James Morrison’s side have won their last two games, both from behind, with substitutes scoring late winners against Wrexham and Blackburn. They are fifth on 20 points, their best start to a season since 2021–22, and they are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Preston, according to the club. North End’s last win in the fixture came in October 2022.
Albion will be without midfielder Toby Collyer, who has a hamstring injury and is expected to be out for five to six weeks. Even so, they have plenty of depth, and the bench has been decisive in recent games. Preston will need to stay focused for the full 90 minutes, rather than tiring late on.
There will be a big away following at Deepdale, with West Brom taking an allocation of 5,736 tickets. Preston’s own supporters will need to make plenty of noise to help their side.
It is easy to see why many people are worried about Preston’s season. But it is still only October, and Alexander has had very little time to put his stamp on the team. A positive result against one of the division’s best sides would show the players are responding to him. The free week should have helped with that.
After West Brom, Preston travel to Stoke on Saturday 31 October (12:30 GMT, live on Sky Sports), when the clocks will have gone back. Stoke are sixth and in good form, so the fixtures do not get any easier. That is why Saturday matters so much. A first point under Alexander, or better, would give everybody at Deepdale something to hold on to.
Deepdale is one of the oldest continuously used league grounds in the world, and still sits on the site Preston North End first occupied in the 1870s. Today it is a compact all-seater stadium of 23,404 on Sir Tom Finney Way, postcode PR1 6RU. For visiting supporters the picture is simple: you are in the Bill Shankly Kop, the steep single-tier stand behind the north goal. Standard Championship allocations run at around 3,000; for bigger followings the club can give you most or all of the 5,933 seats.
The Kop opened in 1998 and is named after the former North End half-back who later built Liverpool. There are no pillars. The rake is sharp, so even mid-tier seats feel close to the pitch and the roof carries noise well. Wheelchair spaces exist at pitch level and in elevated bays; book those through your own club. Away turnstiles and the away ticket office sit on this side of the ground. Coaches are usually directed to the dedicated away coach park next to the Kop.
Opposite you is the Alan Kelly Town End, the traditional home end behind the south goal and named after the club’s record appearance-making goalkeeper. Down the west touchline runs the largest stand, the Sir Tom Finney Stand (7,893), which holds the press box, hospitality and the famous Splash statue outside. Facing it on the east side is the narrower Invincibles Pavilion (3,719), named after the unbeaten 1888–89 Double side. Dugouts and the tunnel sit on that eastern flank. The two goals sit immediately in front of the Kop and the Town End, so from the away seats you look the length of the pitch toward the home singers.
Arrival is straightforward. From the M6 use junction 31, then the A59 and A5085 Blackpool Road; the ground is signed. Stadium car parks are limited and sold in advance (recently around £15). Moor Park, across Sir Tom Finney Way, is a cheaper first-come option. Local schools and clubs often open matchday fields for a few pounds. Preston station is about a 25–30 minute walk or a short bus ride (19 / 19A from the bus station). Leave extra time after a Saturday 3pm kick-off if you need an evening train south.
Pubs tight to the ground lean home. St Gregory’s Catholic Club on Blackpool Road, a five-minute walk from the Kop, usually takes mixed crowds for a small door fee and fills early. The White Hart on Watling Street Road is further out but easier if you have driven. Many travelling fans drink around the station first — The Old Vic, Station Hotel, Hogarths, The Bears Paw, Twelve Tellers — then walk or bus up. Deepdale Retail Park is roughly ten minutes away if you want food rather than a pint (Greggs, Nando’s, Morrisons and the usual chains).
Inside, concourse food is standard football fare plus the local potato and butter pie. Card and cash are both taken at the away kiosks; alcohol is normally on sale unless a fixture is restricted. Toilets are modern. Bags are searched, pyrotechnics mean a long ban, and you should carry ID if you hold a concession ticket. Views from the Kop are among the clearer away ends in the Championship: a steep, unbroken bank looking straight at the Town End goal. Get in early, pick a seat a few rows up rather than on the very front rail if you want the full pitch in one glance, and you will have a proper old English ground without the pillars of the Victorian era.