After an enthralling midweek of Champions League and UEFA Cup action, we are confident at the Championship clash between Cardiff and Preston will be equally exciting.

There is no doubt that of all the leagues in Britain, England's second tier is shaping up to come to a grand finale, with eight teams separated by only seven points.

With 59 points, Preston are in fourth place and still have ambitions to land the title and Cardiff, three points behind, are on their tails.

The Welsh side lost against West Brom on Tuesday while Preston bounced back from their FA Cup defeat by Manchester City at home last weekend with a 2-1 win over Norwich.

Defeat against the Baggies ended Cardiff's five-game unbeaten run although manager Dave Jones bemoaned the loss of senior players through injury and suspension.

Glenn Loovens, Michael Chopra and Simon Walton were all banned while Darren Purse and Ricardo Scimeca were sidelined by injury.

And while the majority of them should be back for the visit of the Lancashire side, the visitors who will probably go into the game with more confidence with a lot of their hopes resting on new boy Pavel Pergl who marked his debut against Norwich with a stunning first goal.

But we reckon the visitors will be just too strong and will stake a few quid with Betterbet.com who are offering 7/4 for the Preston win.