'Damage' for Preston North End star forced off at Plymouth Argyle as Josh Bowler's absence explained
PNE man was forced off at Home Park
Preston North End will wait to learn the extent of Robbie Brady’s injury, suffered at Plymouth Argyle.
The Republic of Ireland international was forced off at Home Park, mid way through the first half. He competed for an aerial duel, but landed awkwardly and hobbled off the pitch - following treatment from the North End physio. Another player to check on post-match was Josh Bowler, with the Nottingham Forest loan man having dropped out of the match day squad.
“He has done his ankle,” said boss Paul Heckingbottom. “He jumped for that header and when he landed, he turned his ankle. It has swollen up. We know there is damage there. How much, we won’t be certain until we get him assessed. (Bowler) was ill. He trained yesterday but had to finish (early) during training.”
With his team having been in total command and thrown away a three-goal lead, frustration was the obvious, overriding emotion for PNE’s boss. But, he’s keen to analyse the game back and move on to Wednesday night’s cup draw against Premier League giants Arsenal.
“Yeah, looking forward to it,” said Heckingbottom. “A big, huge event. It’s a new game, a cup game and it’s a long season. But, I want to watch that game back first. I will not switch off from it until I have. It’s not nice when you feel like this.
“It’s how we use this and it’s a reminder about key things, because there were lots of little things towards the end which added up and resulted in unnecessary pressure. And those are things we have not been doing, because we’ve managed key moments of games really well.
“The reason I want to watch it back is to see all the things we did really well - and have improved on. That put us in such a dominant position and, coming to a tough place, they get fantastic results here for a reason. But, we were just so good and we’ve thrown the game away really.”