Milutin Osmajic 'probably' going to miss Burnley as Preston North End await FA decision

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom doesn’t expect to have Milutin Osmajic available for Saturday’s derby at Burnley.

The Lilywhites returned to winning ways on Wednesday night as they saw off Watford, 3-0, at Deepdale. It is now on to Turf Moor, for the final game before the second international break of the campaign. PNE’s boss has the majority of his squad available, but Will Keane is an injury concern ahead of Saturday.

The number seven was absent from the squad to face Watford, with Osmajic brought into the starting lineup. He scored Preston’s first two goals of the night, but now looks set for a spell on the sidelines after accepting his FA charge of violent conduct. As for Keane, it’s a quick turnaround to be ready for Burnley.

“Yeah, dead leg,” said Heckingbottom. “There were lots of reasons (for the team against Watford)... Milly deserved his chance. We don’t know the outcome, but he is probably not going to be available at the weekend.

“It made sense, with such a short turnaround, to have Will, Emil (Riis) and Layton (Stewart) available and let Milly have his game here. It would’ve been the same decision anyway, but just with the quick turnaround and the probability he will be missing - it made sense to not put anyone else in the firing line. Luckily, it was the right call.”

On Osmajic’s contribution against Watford amid all the noise, Heckingbottom added: “We handled it well with him. Discussions we have internally, I would never share. But, we deal with that our way, my way and I am not going to punish everyone twice. Like I say, it is up to the governing bodies to do that.

“We will have our own things, internally, but apart from that the FA will decide. We are in it together. We will all make mistakes, while I am here. But, so long as they are for the right reasons and we learn from the mistakes we make, then we look after each other.”