Striker selection dilemma for Preston

Preston have a multitude of strikers who could all start next week against Derby.

In fact, the club currently has a whopping SEVEN strikers on their books after adding two more last week in Stevie May and Eoin Doyle.

The question though is which of them should be banging in the goals up-front? The Lilywhites have four potential forwards who could feature each week and I’m going to have a look at who should start and why.

First of all there is a certain Joe Garner.

He is almost guaranteed to start unless he suffers from an injury. He top-scored in League 1 last year and also picked up the Goal of the Year and League 1 Player of the Year gongs at the end of year Football League awards ceremony.

However, since making the step-up to the Championship, he has yet to find the back of the net. His time will likely come soon – he is a cult hero among the club and its fans and after everything he has done for the club so far, it is highly unlikely he will be dropped for long periods of time, if at all and eventually, he should start finding the back of the net.

The main issue is he could do with a partner alongside him up-front. But more on that later.

If Simon Grayson doesn’t want to wait though, then he has a number of other options who he could put in Garner’s place.

Eoin Doyle hasn’t come to Deepdale to sit on the bench.

He has joined the club on a season long loan and Simon Grayson has been interested in the forward since he played for Chesterfield. The Lilywhites were linked with a move for him back in January and although they failed to sign him back then, they have finally got their man.

Doyle was sensational in League 1 but he hasn’t been given enough of a chance to really prove himself at Cardiff. Now that he is at Preston, he can show Cardiff what they are missing by sending him out on loan. He is strong in the air and he has a superb finishing ability. Alongside Joe Garner or Stevie May, he could thrive if given enough game-time and he could certainly provide the goals that the Lilywhites have currently been lacking in the Championship.

Again there is the worry of ‘He played well in League 1 but since moving to Cardiff he hasn’t been great.’ Well don’t worry Preston fans – that’s probably mostly down to the fact he hasn’t been given too much of a chance.

He played 16 games, scoring 5 for Cardiff last year in the league, which isn’t too bad but this year he has only been given a chance for Cardiff in the Capital One Cup, playing just twice in the cup and no times in the league.

Given the chance at Preston, he could certainly prove to be one of their best attacking threats. we will just have to wait and see.

Stevie May also has a point to prove in the Championship.

He was superb in Scotland but since his move to Sheffield Wednesday, his goals tally hasn’t been as impressive. He played 42 times for Wednesday last season, scoring seven times, while this year he has yet to play a single game.

He’s made the permanent move to Deepdale now and under Simon Grayson, he’ll be desperate to prove he can cut it in the Championship.

He’s still only young – he’s just 22 and he does know where the back of the net is – he’s scored over 60 goals in his career so far! Again, if he is played in a style and system that he likes and can adapt to, then he should be a valuable asset to PNE.

He will certainly challenge opposition keepers – he averaged about three shots a game for Wednesday last season and he likes shooting from long-range too and he has scored in those positions too.

He should be another good attacking threat for PNE but again, we will have to wait and see – with the player yet to play a game for the Lilywhites, we have no idea if he’ll end up proving to be a good or bad signing by Preston.

Will Keane has found himself dropped to the bench recently and he will be eager to start playing again.

He has started five times for PNE so far this season and even scored in the Capital One cup but in the past few games, he has found himself sat on the bench. With two more strikers coming in since his arrival, it isn’t great news for the on-loan United man but if he is given the chance again in the first-team, he will be keen to impress and prove he deserves to stay there.

He can also play as a CAM (although it isn’t his preferred position) and that may see him start more games. In fact, when he was played in that position against MK Dons, it was arguably his best performance in a Preston shirt so far.

Maybe it’s right to play him as a CAM. He’s only found the goal once so far for the Lilywhites and his pass success rate is reasonably good – he’s managed an 84% pass completion rate so far and if he is deployed as a CAM with two strikers in front of him, he could make killer passes through to them and help them find the back of the net more frequently. It’s something for Simon Grayson to consider. The only problem is where Gallagher would play instead, if at all.

The remaining strikers are all unlikely to feature.

Jermaine Beckford, the hero for Preston in the League 1 Play-Off final last season, is currently sidelined with an injury that could see him out for several months.

Jordan Hugill has also picked up a knock earlier on this week and the club are currently waiting to see how long the forward will be out of action for.

Andy Little appears to have been frozen out, with the striker unable to even get on the subs bench at Deepdale at the moment.

In my opinion, I believe Garner could start up-front with Doyle this week. Garner and Doyle could be the two strikers, with Gallagher just behind them in a CAM role. Welsh and Kilkenny would be in the middle of the park and Humphrey and Woods could bomb up and down the left and right wings respectively as wing-backs. Meanwhile, the usual trio of Tom Clarke, Bailey Wright and Paul Huntington are likely to start in the centre of defence and on-loan keeper Jordan Pickford will likely start in goal.

And Joey does need help. As shown in the game against Hull, which PNE lost 2-0, Garner was up-front on his own and he found himself isolated and alone at times. He needed some help alongside him up-front, someone he could play-off, someone who he could work with in attack and someone who he could play key passes to and who he could receive key passes from. When Beckford and Garner played up-front with each other at Wembley, the two of them were superb and even though Garner didn’t get on the score-sheet, he was arguably one of the best players on the pitch, helping Beckford score his hat-trick. He just needs that partner again.

However, if Grayson is keen to get both of his new signings out on the pitch against Derby, he could drop Joe Garner and have his two new players in attack.

He could also push Doyle out onto the wing or play him in a CAM-type role (despite it not being his favoured position) to ensure that both the two new signings and Garner are all on the pitch at the same time. However, it would mean a change of formation and the PNE manager likes using his current formation, so it is the less likely option, although it could very well be done.

Who do you think will start against Derby? Will either of the new signings start? Will on-loan Will Keane find himself back in first-team action? Let us know below or on our social media pages!

Picture Credit – Steve Daniels

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