Tom Cannon injury confirmed as ex-PNE favourite faces lay-off

PNE spent most of the summer trying to bring Tom Cannon back to the club after a successful loan spell earlier this year.

North End fans had real hope when Cannon was spotted at Deepdale during the 2-0 pre-season friendly win over Aberdeen.

The situation rumbled on and on with PNE eventually missing out as Leicester City pounced with a deal.

That’s because Leicester boss Enzo Maresca has now told BBC Sport that Cannon has a stress fracture in his back.

The issue came up in his medical and Leicester were happy to proceed with the deal, believing that Cannon would be fine down the line.

However, there is now no timescale for the 20-year-old’s return with Leicester having to be patient with Cannon.

Maresca added that Cannon hasn’t even trained with Leicester yet, with the Foxes preferring to look to the long-term than just focusing on an immediate impact.

We all wanted Cannon back; he was outstanding on loan with North End in the second half of last season.

Peter Ridsdale confirmed on the From The Finney podcast that PNE did make a permanent move for Cannon and Everton had accepted before Leicester won the race.

North End moved on to sign Basel winger Liam Millar on loan as well as striking a club-record deal for Montenegro striker Milutin Osmajic.

Both players made an immediate impact against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, helping PNE claim a fifth straight Championship win.

Whilst PNE may have seen the value in the long game with Cannon, it’s hard to argue against having Millar and Osmajic making an impact right now.

There is also the fear that Cannon may suffer long-term issues from this injury, with PNE fans maybe relieved that a huge fee wasn’t paid out for a player who faces a spell on the sidelines.

The Foxes did lose James Maddison and Harvey Barnes in the summer and that was a blow considering how valuable the duo were in the final third last season – but their departures always looked likely following the club’s relegation to the Championship.

With the money they have been able to generate through player sales though, they managed to strengthen their squad with some excellent additions including Harry Winks and England international Conor Coady.

And Enzo Maresca, who took charge of the Midlands outfit in the summer, has experience of working alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and has been tipped by many to guide the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

They have done extremely well during the early stages of the season, winning five of their six league matches and also coming out on top in both of their Carabao Cup games.

Starting their season with a 2-1 win against Coventry City, who were play-off finalists last term, they then beat Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City and Rotherham United, with late winners coming in the latter two games.

Unfortunately for them, they were unable to claim 15 points from 15 in their opening five league games of the campaign, with the Foxes suffering a 1-0 home defeat against Hull City just before the international break.

They were unlucky not to get something from that game though, with the Midlands club pressing hard during the latter stages of that game and even hitting the post, but failing to find an equaliser in the end.

Maresca’s side did manage to respond with a 4-1 away win at Southampton after the break though – and they will be full of confidence heading into tonight’s game against Norwich.

The Canaries’ boss isn’t underestimating how difficult his team will find tonight’s game and was very complimentary of Leicester, saying: “They will get promoted. This is not a secret. I even don’t know if you can bet on them. Probably not.

“This is the biggest test we faced in the season.

“One we are really looking forward to, and where we are excited about, and a game where we aim to be the most uncomfortable opponent Leicester can face – the most uncomfortable evening they face in the season. This is what we will try.”

It would be difficult to see the Foxes not securing promotion considering the strength of their squad.

The fact they have managed to be reasonably consistent already despite making quite a few changes to their squad in the summer is promising.

The one concern is the fact they don’t have a huge amount of depth in the forward department with Tom Cannon out of action.

But they have scorers in other areas who can contribute including Stephy Mavididi and Cesare Casadei.

In their quest for promotion, they may have seen Leeds United and the Saints as their most difficult but both have made underwhelming starts to the season, so that will give the Foxes more confidence.