Preston North End assessing injury to defender who made first start in 13 months against Fulham
The PNE defender made his first appearance of the season on Tuesday night
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom will wait to learn the extent of Patrick Bauer’s injury.
The German defender was brought into the starting lineup on Tuesday night and lasted 61 minutes. It was Bauer’s first appearance of the season and first start since last August, having played just two games as a substitute last campaign. Bauer, who signed for PNE in 2019, has barely played for the last two years but he came in and performed admirably for an hour against Fulham. However, just after the hour he was forced off and left the pitch in tears, with his arm in a sling.
“Yeah, so we need to assess him,” said Heckingbottom. “The medics were not happy with it at all and called for him to come off straight away. So, not sure. We’ve obviously been told what it could be, but we’ll wait and see. He has obviously not played for a long time. We’ve played him in a couple of reserve games, to get him up to speed. I had the opportunity to play him tonight, so we’ll see, I hope it’s nothing that can keep him out for a long time.”
Bauer was an ever-present in his first three years at North End, when available. He suffered a horrific Achilles injury in December 2020, but got himself back fit and featured regularly under previous manager Ryan Lowe - through to the end of the 2021/22 season.
He then found himself firmly on the fringes of the squad though and was made publicly available for transfer. A move never transpired and Bauer’s contract was expected to expire last summer, but it turned out an extra year had been triggered. It would be quite the comeback story - the centre-back is certainly in the picture for PNE’s manager.
“Yeah, that’ll be down to him,” said Heckingbottom. “It is always a clean slate when you come in. I think it is really important that everyone understands that. We will treat everyone the same way, but likewise we’ll expect the same from everyone. Then it’s down to them. I think you have to... I have to make my own mind up on everyone at the club and yeah, to do that you’ve got to be consistent and give everyone an opportunity.”