The final stages of the Championship season kicked off at Preston this afternoon for leaders Norwich City.

The Canaries went into the game in strange circumstances, with injuries to central defenders Ben Gibson and Christoph Zimmermann followed by seven of Daniel Farke's regular starters being in international action less than 48 hours before the match.

However, City go into the game at Deepdale in a very strong position in the promotion race with eight games to play, sitting eight points clear of Watford and 14 ahead of third-placed Swansea.

That's thanks to a superb run of nine wins and a draw in the 10 games prior to the international break, taking them to 83 points and close to sealing an immediate return to the Premier League.

One element of the international action which did at least go to plan was 22-goal top scorer Teemu Pukki's brilliant form continuing, with three goals in two World Cup qualifiers before only coming on for the closing stages of a friendly in Switzerland on Wednesday.

The Finn, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Monday, has 14 goals in his last 13 matches for club and country.

- You can follow all the updates, analysis and reaction from Preston in our Matchday Live blog above