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Dudley to return?

Adams has missed the last four games through a hamstring strain. Though the midfield player is likely to be fit for weekend, manager Andy Ritchie believes it is too great a gamble to pitch him straight back into the team after a three-week absence. Graham, meanwhile, is unlikely to have recovered from the back problem which has been troubling him in recent weeks. Athletic have a clear midweek to prepare for Saturday's cup tie and a return to Deepdale only a week after their 2-0 league defeat. 

Ritchie believes the quality of finishing was all that separated the two teams on Saturday. He reflected: "It was all about taking chances — we didn't and Preston did. "We ought to have been 2-0 up at half-time. Jonathan Macken had two chances for Preston in the second half and scored from both of them." Athletic reserves have an afternoon match tomorrow at Spotland against Rochdale in the Pontins League Cup, kick off two o'clock. They have already beaten Stockport and Macclesfield in their group and a draw tomorrow would guarantee progressing to the next phase.

It’s deja vu for Latics after striker’s double

Had they played it may well have been a different story, though we will never know. Preston will have midfield powerhouse and captain Sean Gregan back — he missed Saturday’s match through a one-match suspension. It was difficult to find fault with Athletic’s first-half display. Goalkeeper Gary Kelly didn’t have one save to make which was an indication of how well Athletic defended. The central defensive threesome of Shaun Garnett, Scott McNiven and Mark Hotte never put a foot wrong. Athletic could have taken the lead after 32 minutes when Rickers, released on the right side of the penalty area by Whitehall’s diagonal pass, could only fire straight at Finnish ’keeper Teuvo Moilanen. Macken was put through in a similar position late in the game and found the net. Enough said. Lee Duxbury and Mark Allott had a great inter-change of passes to carve open the Preston defence. This time Whitehall was desperately unlucky, striking an upright. It was evident from the restart that Preston meant business, displaying the zeal and determination conspicuous by their absence in the opening 45 minutes. Athletic had only one decent effort at goal in the second period, a drive from Whitehall which whistled past the upright at the time when the game was still goalless. Hotte came to Athletic’s rescue with a goal-line clearance to deny Macken, who beat Kelly to a cross and saw his header loop towards an empty net. Ryan Kidd also thundered a powerful header narrowly wide, and it looked only a matter of time before the breakthrough would be made.

It came on the hour when Macken rounded off a fabulous move. Mark Rankine sprayed a long ball out left to David Eyres. His pinpoint cross from the wing was headed against an upright by Kurt Nogan. But while the Athletic defenders stood rooted to the spot — and motionless — Macken reacted as quick as a flash to rifle home the rebound. Manager Andy Ritchie brought on Matthew Tipton for Mark Innes — he has still to recapture last season’s form — for the final 17 minutes in an effort to provide more attacking spark. But with Athletic forced to take risks pushing forward it was almost inevitable they would get caught on the break, which is what happened two minutes from time. Icelander Bjarki Gunnlaugsson, who came on for Nogan with nine minutes left, sliced open the Athletic defence with a crossfield pass. Macken found himself free on the right side of the penalty area and he confidently drilled an unstoppable shot low past Kelly. It was cruel on Athletic but the message was again loud and clear — they need to possess a more ruthless streak in front of goal. Preston had been there for the taking in the opening half, but Athletic failed to take advantage 

Shaun Garnett was also unhappy by Athletic’s failure to capitalise on their first-half chances. “If we had gone off 2-0 ahead at half-time I don’t think the score would have flattered us, and people here would probably say we deserved it,” said the central defender. “When you look at Preston, who are second in the division, we matched, if not bettered, them in most areas in the first-half. “But in the second we were poor collectively which is frustrating both for us and the gaffer. “It is not the first time that it has happened. There have been a number of other occasions and it’s no secret that we are inconsistent. “We might play well for 60 minutes and then allow all the good work to go. “But all credit to Preston for hitting back and making us look a mediocre side. “I am sure a few strong words were said in their dressing room at half-time, but we also thought we could get better. “We went out for the second half believing that if we lifted our game there was a win, not a draw, for us. “We never started from the 46th minute and when we came off the gaffer would have been pulling out his hair, had he any. Garnett added that on their day Athletic are a match for any team in the second division. But he explained it is that inconsistency which is the reason why they are in their current position in the table.

Preston manager David Moyes described it as a hard game, saying Athletic always do well against them. He said: “You are not going to play perfectly every week. “I didn’t think we played particularly badly. We were patient, which I wanted the players to be, and I would have taken a 2-0 win against Oldham anytime, whether we play well or badly.”

Oldham 0

Another Mack attack left Oldham wishing they had never clapped eyes on their bogey player. And, after a dynamic double in the League, how do Latics stop on-fire Jonathan Macken making it a hat-trick in the FA Cup? The red hot youngster, whose goal sank Andy Ritchie’s men on the opening day of the season at Boundary Park, did it again at Deepdale with two scorchers in the last half-hour. Now Oldham must find a way of extinguishing one of the brightest flames in the Second Division this coming Saturday – or watch their cup hopes go up in smoke as well. Macken’s strikes in the 61st and 89th minutes took his tally to 14 for the season – 10 more than any other member of the North End squad. The four other strikers at the club have managed only nine between them. So the inescapable conclusion is that without the man in form, Preston would not be on a 14-match unbeaten run and sitting pretty in joint top spot in the division. Of those 14 goals in 25 starts, the one-time Fergie Fledgling has netted 12 in his last 17. Yet he is still waiting to break his duck in the FA Cup . . . so watch out Oldham when you return for round three this weekend. “Jon is in a smashing run of form at the moment and it’s great to see him scoring so many,” said proud boss David Moyes. “But you have to remember he is still a young boy and there will be times when the goals dry up.”

The assured way he rattled his two in on Saturday suggested no such drought is on the horizon. The first was lashed into the roof of the net from the corner of the six-yard box after Kurt Nogan’s header had come back off a post. And the clincher, laid on by the blossoming Bjarki Gunnlaugsson, was rifled in with the sure touch of a young man high on confidence. Had an earlier effort not been headed off the line by defender Scott McNiven, Macken could have claimed his first-ever hat-trick – a milestone he was so cruelly denied against Notts County last month by a wicked deflection. Still, he will surely get other opportunities this season if he and the team continue to ride the crest of a wave which is slowly and surely heading just one way. Preston had to cope without banned skipper Sean Gregan for the first time since September. And it was a big test, not only for the deputising Michael Appleton, but also the rest of the side, to prove they could manage. After a bright first 10 minutes when they had Oldham under the cosh, there was a spell up to half time when it looked like the big chap’s absence might prove costly. But Latics failed to make the most of their hosts’ edginess when a three gilt-edged chances came their way. And once North End had taken their now customary interval rollicking, the visitors hardly found the front foot again. Those openings in the first half should have seen Ritchie’s side in the lead, but they were all squandered.

First Paul Rickers fired tamely at Tepi Moilanen after a collision between Ryan Kidd and Michael Jackson had let him in. Then Steve Whitehall crashed a shot against Tepi’s right-hand post when he was put clear on the left of goal by Mark Allott. And finally Whitehall smashed the ball into the side-netting from close range after more North End hesitation at the back. When Preston went forward, especially in that opening 10-minute spell of dominance, the Latics piled men back behind the ball and managed to get a block on almost everything thrown at them. Macken was wide with a glancing header and Jackson nodded over the top from a corner. But after the break, once Moyes had instructed his players to use more width, the control switched back to North End. Within seven minutes of the restart Macken had almost broken the deadlock. Julian Darby put over a cross, the young striker got up in front of keeper Gary Kelly to nod it goalwards, the ball bounced towards the empty net and, just as it was about to cross the line, defender Scott McNiven dashed across to nod it away. From the resulting corner Kidd put a header inches wide of the far stick. But the opening goal was not far from arriving. And, on 61 minutes, Mark Rankine charged through the middle, he laid it out to David Eyres on the left and his pinpoint cross found Nogan’s head eight yards out. The ball crashed against the far post and Macken reacted quickest to leather it into the roof of the net. Graham Alexander’s hopeful punt almost caught Kelly out, but the ball landed in the side-netting. And referee Mike Pike turned down strong appeals for a penalty from North End when Nogan’s shot appeared to strike McNiven on the arm.

Rankine then hesitated when presented with a clear shot at goal and fluffed it straight to the Oldham keeper. But, with a minute left on the clock, Preston scored a killer second. Sub Gunnlaugsson turned a pass into the path of MACKEN as he charged unmarked towards goal and the youngster smashed an unstoppable shot past Kelly. Having completed their first double of the season, North End have the psychological edge as they welcome back Oldham this coming weekend hoping to make it a treble in the FA Cup. And, with bogey man Macken in this form, boss Ritchie might be tempted to fetch a hammer and nails to board up the goals.