Hughes, Whatmough and McCann injury updates after Preston North End’s loss to Ipswich Town

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe provided an update on his absentees after Saturday’s 4-2 defeat to Ipswich Town.

The Lilywhites’ boss made four changes for the Portman Road clash, with Ali McCann dropping out of the match day squad after featuring in midweek against Leicester City. Andrew Hughes remained unavailable with a calf problem, while Jordan Storey played no part having come down with illness in the week.

Club captain Alan Browne returned to the side, but Lowe admitted post-match that the Irishman probably shouldn’t have started - after missing the Leicester City match four days prior with a bug. North End’s manager saw defender Jack Whatmough forced off after 27 minutes against the Tractor Boys, with several problems to discuss after the final whistle.

“Ali McCann picked up a niggle from Wednesday night and Jack Whatmough was complaining about his hamstring,” said Lowe. “Again, I had to make a change but there are no excuses. We’ve got some good players and a quality squad in my eyes. That is us and we should have it where anyone can step in and do a job. (Jordan Storey) is still not well. We were hoping to get him down here, but it’s a good job we didn’t really.

“If we’d have looked at putting him in - it’s not fair. But, when you’ve got good players, who have been playing well for you, you want them in and around the team. That is no disrespect to the lads who came in - I thought they did a good job. But, whether it’s injuries or illness, there are no excuses - we just weren’t quite at it and gifted a good team some good goals.”

As for Hughes, who has been a mainstay in the starting lineup when fit alongside Liam Lindsay and Storey, Lowe will learn the full extent of his blow next week - following a chat with club physio Matt Jackson.

“Me and Jacko will go through it on Monday,” said Lowe. “It is a little bit of a complicated one, so it could be a couple of weeks, ten days, or a week. We are waiting to find out if he is due a PRP - which is an injection to help the healing. We will probably know a bit more next week on how long it’s going to be. Hopefully it is not too long.”