Preston boss Simon Grayson is not expecting any favours from an old friend today as North End bid to virtually guarantee their place in the play-offs.

Grayson played under Crawley manager John Gregory at Aston Villa and the pair intend to catch up on old times after the final whistle at Deepdale.

But Grayson knows Gregory will be determined to get Crawley back to winning ways following two consecutive defeats and has not ruled out his old boss engineering a late run for the play-offs.

Grayson said: “We know what Crawley are all about. John has got them going in the right direction and is a manager I have a lot of respect for having played under him at Aston Villa.

“He won’t have given up on them still getting into the play-offs. If they win their games in hand it will be close. They’ve had a couple of disappointing results lately but they will be tough opponents.”

Reds won at Deepdale last season courtesy of a brace from Gary Alexander and fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the Checkatrade.com Stadium in Gregory’s first home game in charge in December (see video).

Grayson added: “We played very well down at their place in the first half. We dominated the first half and got 2-0 ahead but then John got into them at half-time and they came out and made things very tough for us.”

Meanwhile ex-Reds boss Richie Barker will assist Karl Robinson at MK Dons after leaving Portsmouth.