Preston boss Frankie McAvoy praises returning defender Patrick Bauer

Bauer scored the only goal as McAvoy’s men recorded their first Championship points of the season, in the 1-0 win over Peterborough United on Saturday at Deepdale.

The German’s last league game was December 1, a 3-2 win over AFC Bournemouth.

Bauer actually made it goals in back-to-back league games, having notched on the south coast prior to rupturing his achilles.

He did feature in the Carabao Cup win over Mansfield Town earlier this season, playing the full 90 minutes and the plan was to get another run out in the cup on Tuesday.

Liam Lindsay was absent for the game against Posh as he was isolating so Bauer stepped into the breach ahead of schedule in the centre of defence.

The 28-year-old headed home Ryan Ledson’s cross after 14 minutes and looked assured on his return to the side, with his head coach having a succinct summary of his performance.

“Magnificent,” McAvoy said. “I told him on Friday that he would play and he said to me ‘I’ve waited eight months for this’’

“I told him it was his opportunity and to just be Pat Bauer - be the Pat Bauer we know he can be.

“I was absolutely delighted for him. I thought he was magnificent.

“He was a massive threat, even the corner that we’d worked on for him coming around the back post with Liam Lindsay – he was a big threat at it.

“We’d worked really hard at those deliveries because that is a big threat for us, we know we’re good at it.

“His header across the goal for Andrew Hughes was magnificent. It was everything we’d worked on and it was a pity the keeper pulled off a fantastic save.

“For me, he was magnificent and I’m delighted he’s back.

There has been lots of unrest amongst the PNE fanbase in recent weeks, as results have been disappointing prior to Saturday’s win.

There were just 9,852 fans at Deepdale on Saturday, 690 coming from Peterborough.

It was the lowest league attendance since September 2016, a 3-0 win over Cardiff City.

But those that were there made their presence known.

“The fans were great,” McAvoy said. “I said that in the first game and we let ourselves down.

“On Saturday, to a man, I thought they were magnificent, and they always have been.

“So from me, thank you. That’s what we need, that’s the type of support that we need.”

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