Preston referee Michael Salisbury will be the man in the middle for Wednesday’s Leasing.com Trophy tie against Manchester City U21.

Mr Salisbury is in his fourth season on the National List and this will be the fourth time he has refereed a Rochdale game.

He was first in the middle for the 2017 Boxing Day trip to Blackburn, while in August 2018, Michael was at the Crown Oil Arena for Dale’s disappointing 4-0 loss to Barnsley.

We also conceded four goals when he was last at the Crown Oil Arena in February, with the 4-3 loss to AFC Wimbledon being a devastating blow in what eventually became a successful fight against relegation.

Salisbury was also the fourth official at the Checkatrade Trophy tie against Manchester City U21 in January.

In 2014/15, Michael was promoted to become a Premier League assistant referee and during that time he also joined the FIFA list, officiating at games in Malta and France.

However, in 2016 he opted to follow the refereeing route and after promotion to the National List, he kicked-off his league career with a game between Leyton Orient and Newport.

A PE teacher at Parklands High School in Chorley, Michael has refereed up and down the country in League One and League Two since then, with his appointments this season taking him to such diverse locations Leyton Orient, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, MK Dons and Swansea!

As is also often the case, Mr Salisbury has followed in the refereeing footsteps of his father, Graham Salisbury, who has officiated many Dale games down the years.

He has overseen six matches so far this term, showing 13 yellow cards and two red cards, both to Cheltenham players at Leyton Orient on the opening day of the season.

Photo: Action Images

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