Hamstring injury for Preston midfielder Alan Browne is not a long-term concern says Alex Neil

Browne missed Saturday's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa after feeling his hamstring tighten in training the day before.

The New Year's Day visit to Rotherham will probably come too soon for the Irishman but he shouldn't be too long after that.

Neil said: "Alan's had issues with hamstrings of late.

"We put him on the bench at Sheffield Wednesday because of that, a couple of times he hadn't trained that week.

"When we were prepping for Saturday's game on Friday, we had literally done 10 minutes - he didn't get above 60% - and he felt his hamstring tighten-up.

"We couldn't take any risks with him and so he wasn't available.

"What we did was turn our attention to the lads who were fit and they have done more than enough.

"Alan will be okay, I'm not sure he will make the next one because it is only a couple of days away but it is certainly nothing to be concerned about."

Browne is one of six players out with hamstring issues at the moment - Ben Davies, Callum Robinson, Louis Moult, Brandon Barker and Sean Maguire are the others.