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Five-a-side: Best of both – Preston North End

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Birmingham City travel to Deepdale on Tuesday night to face Preston North End, a fixture which looks set to be another tough one for Gary Rowett’s men.

The Lilywhites currently sit 16th in the Championship table and are just five points off the Blues, who are sat in 9th.

Preston are coming into the game off the back of a fantastic 1-0 win over Reading on Saturday, courtesy of a second half Joe Garner penalty, and they are a force that Blues have to be wary of.

Blues themselves go into the game following a brilliant away performance against Middlesbrough, where they kept a clean sheet, but also failed to score for the sixth time in eight matches.

I have looked extensively into both squads in order to decide who deserves a place in this weeks side and I believe I have come up with a fairly decent team this week!

So, here goes…

GK: Jordan Pickford.

The on loan Sunderland man has kept an impressive 11 clean sheets already in the Championship and he is a great shot stopper.

So far at home, he has only conceded eight goals in the league and that kind of form meant that I just couldn’t leave him out of this team!

DF: Jonathan Spector.

The USA international defender has been a rock at the back for the Blues this season and even though he is still looking for his first goal, it doesn’t matter because he makes up for it with the amount of interceptions that he makes.

Spector throws his body on the line each game and does everything he is asked to do very well, therefore he needed to be in my team this week.

MF: Maikel Kieftenbeld and Daniel Johnson.

Summer signing Kieftenbeld has been a fantastic signing for Blues so far and his energy and determination in the middle of the park is something that Blues have been missing since Seb Larsson was with the club.

Like Spector, he is still waiting for his first goal, but I imagine when it does come, he will irrupt with happiness!

His mental ability is something that Blues have lacked in the past few seasons and his tactical awareness is a massive boost for Rowett and Blues.

Johnson is currently top goal scorer for Preston this term with seven goals and he is likely to receive a bad reception off Blues fans with the midfielder being a former Aston Villa academy player.

His ability to create chances for himself as well as others is something that Blues will have to watch out for and I am sure Rowett will have highlighted how important Johnson is to the North End side.

ST: Joe Garner.

Although I could have gone with James Vaughan up front, Garner is probably the better choice this week.

Vaughan had a good game against Boro, but Garner has got three goals so far this season and he is a mainstay in the Lilywhites side.

Powerful upfront and somebody who is a key representative of Preston, Garner needed to be in my team because although he might be underrated outside of the club, he sure is a good striker and a dangerous one as well.

Blues and Preston fans, what do you make of the five-a-side team this week? Do you agree with the players that I have chosen? Let us know in the comment section down below!

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