Preston North End aiming to have a shorter injury list by the time the Championship resumes

Patrick Bauer, Alan Browne and Sean Maguire had injuries going into the international break.

Bauer pulled up with some discomfort in his Achilles tendon 20 minutes into the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest.

That was a game which Browne missed and Maguire only made the bench in case he was needed for a short cameo.

The indication is that the international break will give Bauer the necessary time to recover ahead of the Cardiff game on November 20.

Browne stayed with the Republic of Ireland squad after initially travelling to have his back injury assessed.

Maguire, like Bauer, is hopeful of being back when the Championship resumes.

There will hopefully be some light at the end of the tunnel too in respect of the fitness of long-term casualties Ched Evans and Matthew Olosunde.

They are back in training and next week’s Central League Cup game against Fleetwood could be an opportunity for a run out.

Evans last played in August’s defeat to Huddersfield, illness and then a foot injury keeping the Welsh striker sidelined.

He has plantar fasciitis which is an extremely painful condition in the tissue on the sole of the foot.

Summer signing Olosunde has yet to feature at first-team level, with just 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly and an hour in the reserves under his belt so far in PNE colours.

Olosunde suffered an injury to the Achilles tendon/ankle injury in July.

Last month he complained of a tight hamstring in a reserve game which he using to build his fitness.

In the grand scheme of things it was a minor setback but still a frustrating one for the American defender.

North End’s return after the international break is a busy one, with Cardiff, Middlesbrough and Fulham to play in the space of a week.

The fixture list then has a brief spell of Saturday to Saturday football, with Blackburn (a), Barnsley (h) and Millwall (a) leading-up to Christmas.

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