Manchester United's Spanish defender could be in contention for Preston North End's trip to Cardiff City

The former Bury and Plymouth Argyle boss gave his squad a clean bill of health ahead of Saturday's game against Cardiff City.

Lowe, 43, welcomed defensive duo Bambo Diaby and Alvaro Fernandez back to the group in preparation for the trip to South Wales.

The latter, on loan from Manchester United, claimed two assists on his first start for the Lilywhites in the Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield Town a couple of weeks ago.

However, the Spanish teenager was forced off at half-time at the John Smith's Stadium after sustaining an ankle injury and has been in the hands of the physios ever since.

Andrew Hughes is still nursing a sore shoulder following a collision in the goalless draw with Watford at Deepdale, and is behind the others in terms of recovery, but Sean Maguire, who has yet to feature this season, is back among the squad.

"Bambo [Diaby] and Alvaro [Fernandez] are back on the grass, which is good," said Lowe. "Those two will join in with training today (Thursday). [Andrew] Hughes won't be on the grass, Sean [Maguire] is definitely on the grass, he's been with us, so at the moment the treatment room is empty.

"Providing they all come through today, they could come into contention, but there's no real rushing them because we've got depth in the squad anyway. I won't really push them. Alvaro might, potentially, make it.

"We'll have to have a discussion after training to see how it reacts. Sean could make the squad, but we'll see how they go today and tomorrow then we'll take it from there. They're all good."

He added:

"I said to the lads on Tuesday night, 'it's not a team game, it's a squad game'. Everybody will be utilised for the right reasons. It's nice that they're coming back to full fitness, but they're still a little bit off in terms of what we want.

"It's tough when you're playing games Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, you've got to get right up to speed as quickly as you can. The good thing for me is that we can use them and utilise them in training."