Paul Heckingbottom confirms Milutin Osmajic decision after Portsmouth and Sunderland absences
The PNE striker was called up to the Montenegro squad
Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic will no longer link up with the Montenegro squad over the international break.
The number 28 has made 26 appearances for his country and scored a couple of goals. However, Osmajic will play no part in the World Cup qualifiers against Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands. The decision comes after missing PNE’s last three league games against Sheffield United, Sunderland and Portsmouth.
“Yeah, so he'll not be going away,” said Heckingbottom. “We know he's injured because he was desperate to go away with Montenegro again after being called up, so I was certain we'd get him back for this game and I know how much he wanted to play - because he wanted to go away.
“We've got two weeks now for him, two weeks for Jordan (Storey), people like that - and that's going to be important these next two weeks for all the players. We've got a lot of different stages, either recovery from injuries or played a vast amount of minutes. We need to look after them in different ways.”
Gearing up for Villa
PNE’s first game back after the break is the mouth-watering FA Cup quarter-final at home to Aston Villa. It is now a case of Preston working towards that and being in the best shape possible. As Heckingbottom explains, though, there is variation around what the next week looks like for players.
The North End chief said: “Everyone's different. Obviously, we lose boys who have gone away, so fingers crossed they come back fit. We've got boys who will be in, doing their own bit - Ben (Whiteman), Jordan... so that's going to be important.
“Everyone's programmes until the weekend look totally different. Come Saturday, Sunday, everyone looks the same, apart from the ones who are away. But the idea is, in the build-up for the Villa game, everyone's back and as close to their maximum as they can possibly be.”