Manchester City could be set to play their UEFA Cup first qualifying round at Preston's Deepdale stadium, as Eastlands needs recovery time.City need an alternative venue to give their Eastlands pitch extra time to recover from summer events, including boxing and pop concerts.

The tie will be staged on either July 17 or 31, and Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium and Deepdale are being touted as the most likely venues.

A City spokesman told the Lancashire Evening Post: "Deepdale is a superb stadium less than an hour away from Manchester and we've had tentative discussions with Preston about the possibility of staging the tie."

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