Darren Ferguson set to take Preston North End job

Darren Ferguson is expected to take over as manager of Preston North End today. The 37-year-old, who left Peterborough in November after leading them to two successive promotions, is understood to have accepted an offer to replace Alan Irvine at Deepdale. Confirmation of the appointment is likely this morning. Yesterday Preston's chairman, Derek Shaw, had talked of his interest in Ferguson. "Darren Ferguson has excellent credentials and we would be silly not to want to see him," he told Sky Sports News. "We have spoken to representatives of a couple of the other [targets] and we want to get this decision right and we want it sooner rather than later." Ferguson's opening game will be Saturday's Championship match against Doncaster. Later this month Preston take on Chelsea in the FA Cup and Peterborough in the league.