Preston North End injury news as Ryan Lowe glad to have ‘warrior’ back for Southampton clash
Preston North End could be without as many as five first-team players when they host Southampton on Wednesday night.
The Lilywhites currently sit fourth in the Championship table after winning six of their first seven games but are now on a winless run of five straight games which includes heavy defeats to West Brom and Leicester CIty.
Ryan Lowe’s side drew 1-1 with Millwall at Deepdale at the weekend but now face a tougher challenge with the visit of Saints, who are themselves unbeaten in four and breathing down Preston’s neck in the table in fifth place.
The task will be made harder by the club’s current injury list which includes both Northern Ireland midfielder Ali McCann and English defender Jack Whatmough, neither of whom will be fit to play a part against Southampton. McCann withdrew from international duty with a calf problem, while summer arrival Whatmough is out with a hamstring injury.
Experienced Welsh centre-half Andrew Hughes has also missed the last three matches with a calf problem after starting eight of Preston’s first nine games of the season but is considered to be close to a return.
Danish forward Emil Riis meanwhile has suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury and is seeing specialists, while Liverpool loanee Calvin Ramsay is expected to be back training soon after his own knee injury. The right-back will likely play in a reserve game before getting to make his Preston debut.
One player who will be available for Lowe’s side is striker Ched Evans, who made his long-awaited return from injury during last weekend’s draw against Millwall.
The 34-year-old discovered a serious medical condition after a match against Rotherham United in March, with Evans revealing he had experienced blackouts on the pitch and lost the feeling in his arms during matches during the last two years.
Evans has since had successful spinal surgery and, after plenty of rehabilitation at the training ground, returned to action off the bench last weekend and will be hoping he gets the nod to start against Southampton on Wednesday night.
“He was always going to feature, especially against Millwall,” said Lowe of Evans. “I thought he was great in everything he did. To have him back on the pitch and in the dressing room, I’m really pleased to see him back at it because it’s been a long time coming and it was a special moment for him. He’s a warrior isn’t he?”
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EFL pundits Jamie Mackie and Lee Hendrie have played down Preston North End’s hopes of being involved in the automatic promotion race on the backdrop of a slump in form.
The first two months of the season saw Ryan Lowe’s men emerge as the surprise package and into the first international break of the 2023/24 campaign they had been top-of-the-table. A series of injuries however, as well as a series of draws and losses to the teams in and around them have seen them drop down to fourth.
North End are without a win since September 19, and have picked up just two points from a possible 15 in their last five games. It’s stark contrast to their five matches prior in which they picked up maximum points.
Former QPR and Nottingham Forest striker Jamie Mackie was in the Sky Sports studio at the weekend, and prior to kick-off he was questioned about Preston North end. The 38-year-old believes the Championship is a stronger league this year, but that a play-off spot isn’t out of the reckoning.
He said appearing on Sky Sports’ coverage on Saturday; “I wouldn’t say for Preston that I would expect and I am sure deep down anyone affiliated with Preston would expect them to be at the top of this table. It’s an extremely competitive Championship league this year.
“I think last year it was slightly easier in terms of the quality, I think this year it’s really gone up a level again. I think under Ryan Lowe they’ve got a realistic chance of being in the top-half and pushing for the play-offs.
“Being in top one or two is a big big ask in this division, and we noticed it with a couple of players out injured we really noticed the difference in squads running on that kind of budget and size. It’s very difficult to compete at the top if you’re missing players, and I think we’ve seen that in the last few weeks.”
Clubs in the division that do not have a big financial backing and have had to tread carefully with their finances in recent years have looked to Coventry City and Luton Town as a potential recipe for success. The Hatters won promotion via the play-offs at the experience of the Sky Blues, who themselves drew plaudits for their ability to get into the play-offs at the expense of some of the bigger teams in the division.
It has been suggested by the former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie however that it isn’t something that Preston North End will emulate. He echoed Mackie’s comments that he believes that the Championship has improved in quality this season, and that their success was an anomly.
Asked what would be regarded as success this season, Hendrie responded: “I think it’s bettering last season. I think the last two seasons they’ve finished more or less identical. They have been there or there abouts. They fell away towards the back end of last season where you felt they might just creep in there and give themselves a chance of the play-offs.
“I think if they are anywhere around the play-offs come the back end of the season. It’s what they can do better to actually get in there and get that play-off spot. It’s a competitive league and you can’t be looking at the likes of Luton and Coventry, and try and match and identify what they did last season. The quality last season wasn’t quite as good. I think this season it’s edging more and more better.
“Teams are investing more as we’ve seen but I do feel that they are a team for me that have just sort of got to a good level, but as we can see you only need to look at Millwall who are three points off the play-offs and sitting in a position in the bottom-half of the table. It’s a competitive league, and if they can achieve anything better than last season it would be massive for them.”
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