Town keeper Scott Loach believes enough was learned from the first game between the sides to ensure Preston are not underestimated in tonight’s FA Cup third round replay at Deepdale.
Loach took part in the sides’ 1-1 draw at Portman Road 10 days ago, when veteran striker Kevin Davies cancelled out David McGoldrick’s opener, and is scheduled to make another rare first team appearance this evening.
Asked if Preston looked like a team capable of holding its own in the Championship, Loach replied: "Definitely. Kevin Davies is one of the most experienced strikers you’ll come across and I worked with another of their strikers, Joe Garner, when we were together at Watford. I know what he’s like, a very hard-working player.
"In fact, I could name every one of their players and they’ve probably got a Championship team on paper. But they’re not there and we’ve got to show them why they’re not there by going up there and not treating it like a friendly match. We’ve got to be competitive, go for the win and show them why we are where we are.”
Loach has a special reason for wanting to help Town to victory at Deepdale because the prize for victory is a fourth round trip to Nottingham Forest, a club held in high regard with his family.
He added: "I want to play at Forest because I’m a Nottingham boy. It will be nice to have all my family there in the stands, even though they are all Forest fans. It’s always a nice place to go. I think everyone was a bit disappointed with the draw but I was buzzing to be honest.
"But I don’t want to go into that now. We’ve got to beat Preston and they’re a tough team who will also want to win. They will want to prove a point against a Championship team and kind of say they deserve to be in this league. So we know what to expect and it will be a tough night for us.”
The competition may have lost some of its sparkle in recent years but Loach still remembers when he first started to take notice of it and how it launched his dream to play in a showpiece final at Wembley.
He said: "I remember watching it on television when I was a kid. Manchester United were my team back then and ever since the 4-0 win over Chelsea in the 1994 final I’ve been telling myself that I’ve got to play in the FA Cup final one day.
"The competition has lost its spirit a little bit but for me and the other lads in the changing room it definitely hasn’t. It’s a big game, basically, and Preston are no mugs. Just like the last time it will be a tough game but we want to win and that’s the main objective.”