Preston North End injury news for QPR as 'little setback' confirmed by boss Paul Heckingbottom

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom will not welcome anyone back from injury for the Good Friday clash against QPR.

The Lilywhites are back at Deepdale after losing away to Leeds United last weekend, at Elland Road. One returning body will be loan man Sam Greenwood, who was ineligible to face his parent club. But, the injured cohort are expected to remain sidelined.

Heckingbottom has already stated that Freddie Woodman, Jack Whatmough and Ali McCann are unlikely to play again this season - while hoping to have Ryan Ledson back for the last couple of games. One player he was most hopeful of seeing again is Brad Potts, however the number 44 is not in the fray for Friday.

“He was, but now a little setback,” said Heckingbottom. “I'm not so sure. If he does, fantastic. If he doesn't, he doesn't. As a footballer, you'd always like to come back and play before the end of the season and that way then, you know you're fit and you can almost put your mind to rest. Whereas even if you're back training and you've not played, it's a strange feeling. So he's desperate to be back, playing and training before the end, but risking anything - just to put his mind at ease - he knows that we're not going to do that.”

PNE have only won one of their last 11 league games with Potts having missed the last five of them - as well as the FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa. Along with the athletic and physical traits he brings to the team, the number 44 has chipped in with four goals from right wing-back and a couple of assists. His absence has been felt by the boss.

“Definitely missed him,” said Heckingbottom. “I look at how well Kaine (Kesler-Hayden’s) done generally over the season but again, we've been managing him with niggles that ultimately come with 40-50 game seasons. We would have definitely been looking after Kaine more. We would’ve had the option of Kaine on the other side. We would’ve had the option of Potts instead of Kaine if Kaine’s form dipped. Pottsy is a goal threat at the back post so yeah, every time you miss a player.

“And it has been one of the downsides of those cup runs, that it’s knocked games back. We wouldn't change it but ultimately, in my mind as a coach, I always know at some point and we just couldn't quite get to that international break. Pottsy got injured at Sunderland and we had the game on the weekend. If we could’ve got to that international break we'd have probably saved a couple of bodies, I would have thought. But we didn’t manage to and yeah, we suffered because of that. He's certainly one that we’ve missed.”

“He does that wherever he plays.”

Potts is at an interesting point in his Preston career. The 30-year-old has played right wing-back for the last few seasons - a highly demanding position - and tended to avoid injury. This campaign he has racked up 29 league appearances, enduring a couple of niggling injuries. Heckingbottom, occasionally, has pushed him back into attacking midfield - somewhere Potts has been open about wishing to play more often. North End will lose Greenwood in that department this summer and Duane Holmes has already left the building. So, what role does the manager envisage his No.44 playing next year?

“It depends,” said Heckingbottom. “We were putting him in the middle a bit, again, and if he was fit now, he'd probably be playing in there because I'd like to see it. He's got a goal threat from midfield when he breaks in transition, which you see from wing back. He's keen to play there, I know that, but he'd play wherever he's put and wherever he's asked. As I said from when he's played wing back, if you look at his productivity, he generally would get chances, would create chances, would get goals.

“He does that wherever he plays. So when I'm saying ‘let's have consistency’, we've been okay through the season in terms of level of performance. But the consistent thing that's come, is a lack of creativity when we've been in such good positions. That’s probably the wrong word because we created to get in the position. But the final ball, the final detail, or being clinical and taking those chances... he does that and we want to add that to our game next season.”

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