Preston North End 1 Reading 0

Preston have been the model of consistency over the past couple of seasons and, despite the surprise loss of their well liked manager over summer, a string of encouraging results under new boss Alex Neil mean the mood at Deepdale remains upbeat. Reading, meanwhile, are trying to shake off the slump that often follows play-off final defeat

- Johanna Breen

August matches are disconcerting in many ways. First, there are the changes to the squad to acclimatise yourself to, second, the league table doesn’t really give you any indication as to how you might expect the game to pan out, and third, you have no clue what to wear. I’ve hedged my bets with a thermal vest and a raincoat, but thankfully the rain holds off for this encounter. Still, the wind is whipping up a storm, and a tornado of crisp packets and plastic bags is whirling around the pitch at Deepdale.

Preston fans are hoping this will be the only rubbish they’ll have to put up with this season because there’s a lot of other stuff up in the air at the moment. Besides a handful of new players, they also have a new manager to get the measure of. The portents are good though: going into this fourth league match of the new season Alex Neil’s record has encompassed one win, one draw and one defeat, all against tricky opposition – at home to Sheffield Wednesday and away to Leeds and Derby. For a team who’ve taken a while to get out of the starting blocks over the last few seasons this is encouraging.

Neil took over in the summer from Simon Grayson, who had established himself as a favourite with the fans, principally through ending years of play-off misery by finally guiding the club to their first taste of success after nine miserable campaigns. His having left Blackpool in the lurch over Christmas in 2008 to join Leeds further endeared him to PNE fans.