Cat In A Flap
North End’s visit to QPR a fortnight ago not only made headlines because of Preston’s 2-1 victory. Eagled eyed spectators will have noticed that Rangers’ furry mascot, Jude The Cat, was banished to the dressing rooms during the game as officials were confusing him with players!

Jude, a seven foot furry black cat, is perplexed by the decision from referee Lee Probert and he warns that other mascots are set to go on strike if the cat is banned from the touchline or forced to wear a different kit.

Preston North End’s Deepdale Duck has never had such problems although Burnley’s Bertie Bee was almost confused for a player a few years back when he ably tackled a streaker during a Clarets and Lilywhites game at Turf Moor.

Ticket Freeze
PNE may be offering their fans a great deal by freezing their season ticket prices for next season but the Deepdale outfit are actually bucking a Championship trend by offering the same deal next season as this season.

Teams at opposite ends of the Championship table have both announced significant price hikes for the 2005/06 campaign.

Ipswich Town have said that they will be increasing ticket prices for games whether they get promoted to the Premiership or not. Season tickets at Portman Road will go up by an average of five per cent although many fans will be hoping that they are watching the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United next season rather than Luton and Crewe.

Another team unsure of what division they will be playing in next season are Gillingham and their prices could increase by up to 10 per cent.

Transfer Scramble
The transfer window may have closed three weeks back but that hasn’t stopped Championship clubs recruiting for what is sure to be an intense last few months of the season.

Leeds United seem to the big movers once again with Ken Bates showing that he is prepared to back manager Kevin Blackwell. The Yorkshire side moved for Crystal Palace’s Shaun Derry late last week, the midfielder had only just completed a loan move at Nottingham Forest before making a permanent move to Elland Road.

Other transfer moves in the last fortnight have seen Stoke’s Ade Akinbiyi finally complete a move to Sheffield United, Coventry have completed a double swoop for Trevor Benjamin and Ian Bennett and Derby County have signed up Leicester’s Chris Makin on loan for the rest of the season.

Injury Woes
Andy Lonergan is not the only major Championship casualty to hit the headlines recently. The England Under-21 goalie will miss the rest of the 2004/05 campaign after damaging knee ligaments in training.

Brighton’s rookie keeper Ben Roberts also damaged knee ligaments this month and faces eight weeks on the sidelines.

And it wouldn’t be right if Leeds United weren’t mentioned in some capacity, Lucas Radebe and Eirik Bakke have both suffered recent setbacks on their comebacks from long-term injury problems.