Preston North End vs Reading prediction, preview, team news and more

Preston North End host a relegation-battling Reading side at the Deepdale Stadium in the EFL Championship on Saturday, looking to continue their unbeaten run.

The Lilywhites, who started their campaign with three consecutive defeats, haven't lost their last six league games and are now up to 11th in the league table.

Their turnaround in fortunes can be attributed to a stoic defense that hasn't conceded in their last four games.

Ryan Lowe has run a taut ship since taking charge in December and looks set to carry the side further up the rankings.

Reading, on the other hand, are hovering dangerously above the relegation zone with 23 points from 31 games, but Peterborough, sitting a position adrift, have a game in hand over them.

Preston North End vs Reading Head-To-Head

There have been 64 clashes between the sides before and the spoils are closely shared with Reading winning 26 times against Preston, who've beaten them on 25 occasions.

The Royals stole the march in the head-to-head count with a 2-1 victory earlier this season.

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Preston North End Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-W-D-D

Reading Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-L-L-L

Preston North End vs Reading Team News

Preston North End

Greg Cunningham, Sean Maguire and Tom Barkhuizen are all sidelined with injuries, whereas the match comes too soon for Josh Murphy.

Cameron Archer has made a bright start to life with Preston since joining from Aston Villa, scoring thrice, but he's yet to find the net on home soil, an anomaly he'll be looking to erase on Saturday.

Injured: Greg Cunningham, Sean Maguire, Tom Barkhuizen, Josh Murphy

Suspended: None

Unavailable: None

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Reading

The Royals are hoping to have Josh Laurent back from an ankle injury he sustained last week.

On the bright side, Junior Hoilett is back from a suspension.

Injured: None

Suspended: None

Unavailable: None

Preston North End vs Reading Predicted XI

Preston North End (3-4-1-2): Daniel Iversen (GK); Andrew Hughes, Patrick Bauer, Sepp van den Berg; Brad Potts, Daniel Johnson, Ben Whiteman, Josh Earl; Alan Browne; Emil Riis, Cameron Archer.

Reading (4-2-3-1): Karl Hein (GK); Andy Yiadom, Michael Morrison, Tom Holmes, Baba Rahman; Andy Rinomhota, Josh Laurent; Tom Ince, John Swift, Junior Hoilett; Lucas Joao.