Southampton: 2019/20 pre-season – Preston North End in profile

Southampton’s first pre-season game on English soil will kick off this Saturday at 3 o’clock, where the Saints will face off against Championship outfit Preston North End  at Deepdale.

Ralph Hasenhuttl will feel encouraged by his sides 1-1 draw with Austrian side SC Rheindorf Altach in their first fixture of their rather busy pre-season schedule, and will be looking for a similar level of performance against the Lilywhites.

A five-hundred mile round trip is ahead for the Saints squad and staff alike, as they travel all the way up to Deepdale to face Preston North End.

Despite being the division below Southampton in the English ladder, Saints fans will be well aware of the red and whites inconsistency against sides from the Championship – with the side not only being knocked out the F.A Cup by Derby last campaign, but being obliterated at Pride Park during last seasons pre-season preparation.

Under the management of Alex Neil, Preston North End endured a rather underwhelming 2018/19 campaign. Currently sitting in the second division of English football, Preston finished 14th last season, thirteen points off of the play-off places.

In attempt to improve this position for the upcoming campaign, Preston have delved into the transfer market – picking up two free agents. The first  player brought in so far this window is German defender Patrick Bauer. The centre-half was a hero for Charlton last season, with his last minute goal in the league one play-off final securing Charlton’s promotion to the Championship. Despite this, he rejected the chance to sign a new contract at the Valley, and instead sign a three year contract at Preston North End.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Familiar to the Saints from last seasons rather short F.A cup campaign, Preston nipped in rather quickly after David Nugent was released from Derby County to secure their second signing of the window. As a result of the move, the former Portsmouth striker returns to the club that he left twelve years ago for the Saints bitter rivals.

However, there has been a rather major ‘out’ at Preston. English attacker Callum Robinson has switched the Championship for Premier League with Sheffield United for a reported £7 million pounds – a club record for the new top division side at the time. As a result, there is no doubt there will be a need to replace Robinson, with the former Aston Villa man contributing to fifteen of Preston’s sixty-seven league goals.

Alex Neil has quite a lot of youth in his ranks, with only one of Preston North Ends fifteen highest appearance makers of last season being over the age of twenty-eight. As long as things go to plan from a Preston’s point of view, there is a certain reason to be optimistic for the future if they can keep the youthful core of the squad.

So far in their pre-season campaign, Southampton’s next opponents have not conceded a single goal, grabbing away wins against Bamber Bridge, Cork City, AFC Fylde, and Chorley – scoring a combined ten goals in the process. With all of this considered, it would be fair to suggest that the Saints will be the toughest test of their schedule so far, with players looking to impress manager Alex Neil when they face Premier League opposition.