Preston North End dealt injury blow as key man to miss Blackburn Rovers and more

Preston North End will be without Brad Potts for the next handful of games after his injury at Cardiff City last weekend.

The number 44 was forced off, in the second half, with a hamstring issue. Potts has been an ever-present under boss Ryan Lowe, with his only missed game this season due to suspension. But, PNE will now be without him for the next few games.

"He is going to be a few weeks, Pottsy," said Lowe after Wednesday night's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough at Deepdale. "It's the bottom of his hamstring, but we are going to take it week-by-week. I think the international break, four weeks off is that? He is definitely going to miss the next four games I think, Pottsy, which is a bit of a blow. But, young Josh (Seary) was on the bench tonight - who has been training well, looking well and has signed a new deal.

"So, that is good for us. Robbie (Brady) fitted in nicely down the left side and Liam (Millar) did a fantastic job down the right. So, we can manoeuvre people around and hopefully we can keep churning out the results. The lads were out on their feet. We were trying to get Mads (Frokjaer) off at one point, but then Whitey went down with a dead leg."

It was a battle against Boro in midweek and Preston lost Andrew Hughes inside 10 minutes, after a ground duel with Marcus Forss. The Welshman was visibly struggling after that coming together, with it now a quick turnaround to Saturday's derby against Blackburn Rovers.

"It was a block challenge and he's (Hughes) just jarred his knee," said Lowe. "Again, we will check him tomorrow. I asked him how he is in there and he said that he's fine. I thought Greg (Cunningham) was fantastic; he hasn't played for a while. It's hard when the group behind the group are champing at the bit and the training, you wouldn't believe. They have got to wait for that opportunity. When someone does get injured, you've got to be ready."