Kilkenny back in final mix

TWO former Athletic loan stars are bidding to send Preston to glory, as North End try to shake off their play-off hoodoo against Swindon.

Daniel Johnson, who played seven times under Lee Johnson on loan from Aston Villa this season before a permanent Deepdale move, is set to start in an attacking midfield role for Simon Grayson’s side at Wembley on Sunday.

In behind him, there could be a starting role for Neil Kilkenny, too, as Preston aim to bounce back from their agonising failure to go up automatically to the Sky Bet Championship by claiming glory in League One’s end-of-season showpiece — thus ending a streak of not one success from nine attempts in play-off competition.

Kilkenny has been a bit-part player in the latter half of the season, when Preston went on an 18-game unbeaten streak before losing 1-0 on the last day at Colchester to be pipped to a top-two spot by MK Dons.

But he has still made 48 appearances in total in all competitions.

And his experience and nous, which came to the fore when handed his chance in the semi-final second leg against Chesterfield, where he was arguably the best performer on the field, could see Grayson give the Australia international the nod.

“It was good that the team went on such a good run of winning games and drawing games the end of the season,” Kilkenny told the Lancashire Evening Post.

“It was frustrating from a personal point of view, but brilliant in terms of the team’s point of view.

“Right now, it’s all about getting the team promoted and hopefully, we can do that.

“I was pleased with the way I played against Chesterfield in the second leg.

“It was my first start for a while and I felt like I brought a bit of calmness to the game.”

Recent history suggests that North End could have a psychological edge on Mark Cooper’s Swindon outfit, having beaten them 3-0 at Deepdale a month ago.

But the Robins’ preparations for this huge clash have been meticulous. On Wednesday, they spent a day at Wembley taking in the surroundings.

Experienced on-loan defender Sam Ricketts (33) — a veteran of a League One play-off final defeat with Swansea in 2006 and a victory which sent Hull City to the Premier League two years later — believes the stroll around the pitch four days before the game could prove very important.

“We went to Wembley just to have a look around on Wednesday and hopefully that will nullify a lot of the qustions (the players) have,” said Ricketts.

Swindon, who finished 10 points behind Preston, reached the final after an epic, record-breaking meeting with Sheffield United.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg at Bramall Lane, the Robins took when had seemed to be a total command of the tie when moving 3-0 up in the second game after only 18 minutes.

The Blades came back strongly, though, and nerves were jangling by the end as an extraordinary contest finished 5-5 on the night.

Cooper is hopeful that his team’s supporters will buy up tickets late, with only just over 20,000 sold by the middle of the week.

Engineering works on the main rail route and Wembley’s policy of selling expensive tickets before cheaper seats are released for purchase both came under fire from the Town boss in the build-up to a game which starts at the fan-unfriendly time of 5.30pm.

“Without the fans they have nothing,” Cooper said. “They try to screw the fans and in the end they’ll wash their hands of it and say enough’s enough.

“Because it’s Wembley and a final they think people will come anyway. Maybe this year, people are saying enough’s enough.

“You can’t blame them, can you? Wembley need to look at it and say they need to release some cheaper seats so that these people who can’t afford it can go to the game.

“It should be a final that has a massive attendance but it might not be because of the prices and the trains.”