Preview: Cardiff City vs. Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Cardiff City will be looking to claim their third successive Championship victory when they play host to Preston North End on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors, meanwhile, could move to within four points of the playoffs if they were to win against the Bluebirds for the first time in nearly five years.

Match preview

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For the first time since November, Cardiff managed to claim back-to-back league victories as they followed up their 1-0 home win over Derby County with a 2-1 success away at Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Despite going a goal behind when Andre Gray found the net in the 38th minute, second-half strikes from Isaak Davies and Rubin Colwill, the latter scoring a brilliant free kick, turned the game on its head, helping the visitors secure all three points for the 12th time this season.

The Bluebirds have now won six of their last 10 Championship games and Steve Morison's side should have no concerns of relegation, as they are sitting 18 points clear of the bottom three with 10 matches remaining.

Cardiff have won each of their last four league games against Preston, including a 4-0 home victory in February last year. They also beat the Lilywhites 2-1 after extra time in the third round of the FA Cup in January, so they will be confident of securing another positive result on Saturday.

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Like Cardiff, Preston also came from behind to claim maximum points last weekend when they beat promotion hopefuls Bournemouth 2-1 at Deepdale.

Jamal Lowe had put the visitors in front five minutes after the break, but strikes from Cameron Archer and Emil Riis Jakobsen – the latter coming off the bench to net his 17th goal of the season – helped the hosts claim their 12th league win of the season and do the double over the Cherries, who they beat by the same scoreline in the reverse fixture in November.

That result has seen Ryan Lowe's men remain in the top half of the table, and they are now seven points behind the playoffs, though Sheffield United in fifth and Luton Town in sixth both have a game in hand.

Preston head to South Wales with a poor away record against Cardiff as they have won only one of their last 11 away league matches against them.

However, Lowe's side are unbeaten in their last five Championship games on the road, keeping four clean sheets in the process, so they will fancy their chances of success on Saturday.

Team News

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Cardiff centre-backs Sean Morrison and Curtis Nelson are ruled out with respective knee and calf injuries, while Max Watters is sidelined with an ankle problem.

After impressing as a substitute last time out, Davies will be hoping that he is handed a start in attack, which could see him line up alongside Colwill and former Preston man Jordan Hugill.

As for Preston, they will be without Patrick Bauer (hip), Sean Maguire (ankle), Tom Barkhuizen and Greg Cunningham (both calf) due to injury.

The visitors can, however, welcome back defender Liam Lindsay, who has served his one-match suspension and is set to replace Bambo Diaby in the back three.

Brad Potts and Josh Earl are expected to provide width as wing-backs, while Riis Jakobsen could be recalled to the first XI ahead of either Archer or Ched Evans.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Smithies; Ng, Flint, McGuinness; Drameh, Doyle, Wintle, Doughty; Davies, Colwill; Hugill

Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; van den Berg, Lindsey, Hughes; Potts, Browne, Whiteman, Earl; Johnson; Archer, Riis Jakobsen

We say: Cardiff City 1-1 Preston North End

After beating promotion contenders last weekend, both Cardiff and Preston will fancy their chances of securing all three points on Saturday.

Cardiff have fared the better of the two sides in recent meetings but with little to separate them at present, a score draw could be on the cards in South Wales.

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