Preston North End injury news as Ryan Lowe confirms one blow and one boost for Rotherham United

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe provided a mixed injury update ahead of Friday's clash with Rotherham United.

The Lilywhites will welcome club captain Alan Browne back into the fold, after he missed the win at Plymouth Argyle. Milutin Osmajic, who was forced off early at Home Park, could also return to action. But, Brad Potts is sidelined with another hamstring injury and Ben Whiteman is still out with the ankle injury - suffered against Stoke City. Ched Evans could return in mid-April and Emil Riis is fine after illness, a fortnight ago.

In his pre-match press conference, Lowe said: "Milly is OK. He has come through it. He had a bit of bone bruising and there was no real damage. He trained yesterday and he will continue to train today, so - touch wood - if he gets through that, he will be fine. Pottsy, no. We don't really know the timing of it, but it is his hamstring again and we've got to make sure we are cautious with it, this time. So yeah, we will have Milly back, but certainly not Pottsy. There is frustration on both parts, really. We've had a good conversation about it and it's the stretching mechanism, of his hamstring. It is not like he's done it by sprinting or whatever; it's a stretching one where he went to block a cross and felt it.

"So, yeah, he has seen the specialist on it and there is no major concern - in terms of an operation. It's low down, so it is harder to heal if that makes sense. It does take a little bit of time and gives you a false sense of security, that it's okay and then it can just go. We've done the right things and he's in rehab now, to get it stronger and better. But again, there is no real time scale on it - we just don't know. Hopefully we can see him towards the back end of the season. Whitey is fine now, the swelling has gone down in his ankle and he's looking good.

"He is moving around a lot more, on his ankle, so we are going to take that week-by-week. He is building his ankle strength back up - it was both sides he'd done his ligaments in, which is a nasty injury. But, he is on the right road to recovery. We don't know when he will be back, but we are just going to take it week-by-week and the quicker we can get him back, the better. I expect both of them (Whiteman and Potts) to play again (this season) - because the healing process is very good and the physios do all the work to get them back on the grass.

"Browney is fine. He has trained all week and last week. He trained two days, while the lads had a bit of a break. He looks a lot better than he did when he had that niggling, stomach injury. So yeah, he's raring to go and all good. He had a hernia, so he basically had a small operation just to knit it together. He was on the grass and running, after four or five days. It was giving him a bit of grief, but he's feeling a lot better than he has done and is running a lot better than he was.

"Not that he wasn't working hard, but it had been affecting him. (Riis) is fine. He looked like a bag of cr--, getting back on the plane after the game - I am not going to lie! He was drained, but he has come through fine, had a bit of time off and trained well the last few days. He'll be ready to go, yeah. Ched is actually on the grass, doing some ball work now. Watford might come too soon, but certainly after that he will be available for selection."