Newcastle vs Preston North End
England – The Championship
Date: Monday, 24th April 2017
Kick off 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: St. James Park (Newcastle).
Defender Ciaran Clark is set to make a welcome return to the squad having been sidelined since March after suffering a knee injury in the home game with Fulham.
But striker Dwight Gayle "is still not ready and working with the physios" as he continues to struggle with a niggling hamstring problem.
DeAndre Yedlin returned to the Magpies' starting line-up in Monday's 3-1 defeat at Ipswich after a lengthy absence and he should keep his place.
Newcastle's promotion back to the Premier League will be confirmed if they win but though Brighton's surprise defeat to Norwich on Friday means the Magpies still have an outside chance of snatching the Sky Bet Championship title, Benitez insists securing Premier League football is the only thing that matters.
"My target was always to try to go up. It doesn't matter to me the position, so the main thing is just to make sure we finish our job," Benitez said.
Boss Simon Grayson is hoping his Preston side can be party poopers at St James' Park.
He told North End's official website: "People will say they have spent a lot of money but they have replaced people they have lost for large sums and balanced the books.
"It has gone a long way to getting them back in the Premiership but we want to do something about that. Hopefully my players will go out and make it as uncomfortable as possible for the Newcastle players."
Tyias Browning is back in contention for the trip after two months out with a knee injury while Alex Baptiste serves the final game of a three-match suspension.
Newcastle vs Preston: Head-to-head
The Magpies had won their last four matches against Preston scoring an incredible 12 goals as against 1 conceded.
Preston’s most recent visit to Newcastle happened in this season in the EFL Cup which ended in a humbling 6-0 defeat.
Newcastle vs Preston: Prediction
Coming on the back of a poor away record in the league, Preston are expected to struggle on Monday’s fixture. Newcastle are in the midst of a mini-slip on their own, but they have little pressure after pulling further away from the teams below them in the league table. This must end in a comfortable win for Newcastle United.
Newcastle vs Preston: Bet Tips
Full-Time: Newcastle to win at 1.50 with Betfair.
HT/HT – Newcastle/Newcastle at 2.20 with Betfair.
