Preston North End vs Doncaster Rovers preview - Clarke back for Preston

Posted Tuesday, March 03, 2015 by PA

Preston captain Tom Clarke could return to the squad for Doncaster's visit to Deepdale.

In-form North End's only injury concern is defender Clarke, who missed the 4-0 demolition of Oldham on Saturday after he came off against Walsall following a blow to the head.

Scott Wiseman came in for Clarke in the sole change at the weekend as Simon Grayson's third-placed side recorded a fifth straight Sky Bet League One victory.

Former Everton striker Jermaine Beckford (ear infection) made a goalscoring return in that fixture and will be among a host of names hoping Grayson opts to shuffle his pack for a third game in eight days.

Midfielder James Coppinger will return to the Doncaster squad after recovering from an ankle injury.

Rovers boss Paul Dickov has one or two players nursing minor bumps and bruises following the win over Colchester on Saturday but the Scot reported no new absentees ahead of the trip.

Dickov freshened up his team with three changes against the U's and must now decide whether to stick with a winning side or tweak things once again.

"That's the old conundrum isn't it," said Dickov. "It worked on Saturday. We had seven games last month and there's another six this month so the players are going to have to be managed but I'm yet to make up my mind what we'll do at Preston."