Preston North End injury news for Derby County with surgery confirmed and Osmajic latest

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom hopes Milutin Osmajic will be involved at Derby County this weekend.

The caveat is that the Pride Park clash may come too soon for the striker to start, but Osmajic has trained this week. He injured his ribs in the Carabao Cup defeat to Wrexham and has missed the last two league games, away to Portsmouth and at home to Middlesbrough.

On the Montenegrin, Heckingbottom said: “Yeah, he's back in training. He'd been touch and go but muscle injuries... he'd not done any training before the last game. When you've waited over the international break and he'd only missed a couple of games in that three, four-week period, we knew if we risked him and the worst was to happen, we've got another four games before the next international break, which he would miss.

“So yeah, it was the right thing to do. He's obviously missed quite a bit of training and all the physical things that come with that. But he is a fit boy, so I wouldn't be too concerned. It’s just looking after him and the rest of his body, so whether he starts or not, we'll have to see.”

Elsewhere in the squad, PNE are being extra careful with Brad Potts - the next in line to return to match action, having not featured in this campaign yet. Jordan Thompson is weeks rather than months, but it’s the other way round for Robbie Brady - who won’t be back on the pitch anytime soon following calf surgery.

Heckingbottom said: “Pottsy, we're just cautious because this has been frustrating for Brad and obviously, for us because we want him available. Just as he got there, he picked up another injury with his calf, then he re-injured his hamstring.

“So, there's been a hell of a lot of work going on in the medical department and Pottsy seeing different people to just mitigate against it happening again - and doing as much work as possible before he comes in.

“So, we'll gladly welcome him back when it happens. He's doing bits of training with us but hopefully, we'll get him fit and available in the next couple of weeks to play. Robbie, his calf injury was worse than we said at the time.

“After seeing certain people, we've decided to have an operation on it rather than try and go conservatively, which means he'll be out for longer. But, it was the best chance of him coming back 100% and no re-injury. He's going to be out for months rather than weeks.”

On Thompson, Heckingbottom added: “Once they had that diagnosis and he had the operation, he's feeling much happier. You can just see the demeanour with a player. If you're injured and every day you're getting better, you see the progression and you've still got the motivation, you're pushing forward and Jordan's in that.

“I can see that in him now. But then with him, (it’s) putting the reins on him a little bit when you've missed so much from the last game of last season and then pre-season. Getting him back in training will be really important but then he has to understand that next process.

“It'll be a flying start with the adrenaline and the excitement and then he'll have a little dip naturally, and we have to make sure we're ready to manage him through that because we look forward to getting him back.”

Ready to welcome Brad back

Potts has not endured much injury frustration over the course of his seven year stint at Preston. With him now in his thirties, and having done several seasons at right wing-back, Heckingbottom admits that workload could’ve taken its toll on the number 44. He will be glad to have him back in contention for many reasons.

“Yeah, potentially,” said Heckingbottom. “It happens to everyone but your body, how you perform and how you run mechanically as well, everyone's different. If that load does spike, or if there is an issue, it'll always be in where you're weakest. Biomechanically, how you move puts different stresses through your body.

“We all have it when we play and everyone will suffer in different areas. That's one of the things that Pottsy and the guys have been working on - identifying what is causing that strain in that certain area and then, trying to work against that and offload that with different exercises, building strength in different areas to take the load.

“Hopefully, the hard work they've been doing will help him now. The one thing, and I keep bringing it up all the time and I think maybe a lot of people at Preston took for granted, is he's always a goal threat wherever you play him.

“You can see that playing at wing-back, full-back, whatever you might want to call it, in the stats his availability in the box was the best in that position in the Championship - that's a great asset to have.

“I’ve spoken before about if he plays central and he breaks in that area, he's very good at that as well. Good lad, good personality, good experience and someone who I'm really looking forward to getting back.”

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