A match involving Alex Neil and former club Preston will always drum up extra interest, but both parties will be keen to focus on their own business ahead of this fixture.
Neil departed Sunderland for the Potteries earlier this season hoping to spearhead a promotion bid, but the Scot has posted just six wins from 19 matches, losing eight times.
Stoke have improved recently, taking five points from three fixtures, although they saw that unbeaten streak ended on Friday as they succumbed by a 1-0 scoreline to leaders Burnley.
While conceding just once to the relentless leaders may be deemed to be a positive in some quarters, it is a result which keeps Stoke looking over their shoulders towards the relegation zone.
Their season has not been helped by a dismal return at the bet365 Stadium, collecting just 12 points from as many games, and that will need to improve if they wish to have any hope of a late playoff bid.
Sitting just two points adrift of the top six, Preston will have their own ambitions of challenging for promotion, but Ryan Lowe’s side are currently too inconsistent to be regarded as serious candidates.
Having previously won three games in succession, Preston have since recorded four defeats from five games, including suffering three losses in a row.
Although Preston conceded just five times in defeats to Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion, just one goal was scored in those fixtures after they previously hit four at Blackburn Rovers.
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Despite there being a feeling of what could have been, Preston remain within three points of fourth place, even though they start the latest batch of fixtures comfortably in the bottom half of the table.
Having tinkered with his Stoke side for the Burnley game, Neil could do the same here with Liam Delap in line to be recalled in the final third.Tariqe Fosu-Henry may feature on the flank,
allowing Josh Tymon to return to left-back, but Josh Laurent may remain on the substitutes’ bench due to his lack of recent game time.Neil also has the option of reverting to a back three to match Preston’s usual formation.
