Joe Jacobson happy to tackle the big-hitters

But defender Joe Jacobson is hoping that the arrival of Lilywhites, who are fourth in League One, will actually play into Town's hands.

Graham Turner's side, 17th in the table after 22 matches, will be aiming to bounce back from their disappointing 1-0 loss to Tranmere Rovers on Boxing Day.

That reverse, due to an Andy Robinson strike just before half-time, left Town with just one point from back-to-back games against sides sitting in the bottom six of the division, having previously drawn 1-1 at basement boys Crewe last Saturday.

Town will not be favourites to emerge with the points against Preston.

The Deepdale outfit have lost just once in 13 matches.

And they have won seven of their 11 League One fixtures on the road so far this season.

But Jacobson believes that playing against more ambitious opposition may actually suit Shrewsbury and he is relishing the arrival of Simon Grayson's promotion contenders.

He said: "It may be a bit easier for us to play against a team that comes at us a bit more and attacks us a bit more.

"On Boxing Day, Tranmere sat back and we had to make all the running. We had to try to cut them open and, when a team attacks us a bit more, we tend to break a lot better.

"We have got a lot of pace upfront and that might suit us a bit, so we are looking forward to it and we are looking to get a win out of the game."

Three consecutive defeats at the Greenhous Meadow, after a solid run of just one in their previous nine home league matches, appears to have dented confidence within Town's youthful ranks.

Victory against one of the league's best sides would be the ideal tonic to rejuvenate any flagging confidence levels.

And Jacobson cannot wait to test himself against some of the division's best players.

He said: "I want to test myself against the best.

"As nice as it would be just to have easy games every week, you want to test yourself, you want to see how far you can go and how good you can be.

"And if you are playing teams like Preston and you are doing well, it can only help you with confidence for the rest of the season."

Town will have to improve significantly on their disappointing Boxing Day showing, which saw them fail to register a shot on target against one of the division's leakiest defences.

But Jacobson said the team should not read too much into that display, which saw Town create plenty of chances without capitalising on them.

He said: "It is just one of those things. If you play in another game like that you'd go and get three or four goals.

"It's just frustrating that we didn't get one, but those types of games have happened for us and against us over the years and they will continue in football. It is just one of those things.

"I thought we dominated the game, we just couldn't put our chances away and they had one proper chance and scored.

"But that's football, and we need to pick ourselves up very quickly and move on to the next one."

Town midfielder Paul Parry could find himself up against his former employers tomorrow, having spent almost three years at Deepdale between August 2009 and July 2012. But Preston loanee Nicky Wroe is likely to be ruled out of the game because of the terms of his loan agreement.

Preston welcome back veteran striker Kevin Davies and the club's eight-goal top-scorer Joe Garner after both served one-match bans in their side's 1-0 win at Carlisle on Boxing Day.

And boss Simon Grayson was delighted with his side's display at Brunton Park.

"It had a feel of a derby with both sets of fans going for it, and it was a good day for us," he said.

"We were very professional, very organised and worked hard to keep our shape."