Preston North End injury update and Paul Heckingbottom on ‘tough’ Lincoln City test

Preston North End face Lincoln City on Saturday as they look to turn around a poor start to the season.

They sit bottom of the Championship having lost five of their opening six league games.

Andrija Vukcevic felt a tightness in his back during Tuesday’s defeat to Watford, but manager Paul Heckingbottom says the left-back should be available.

“His back tightened up,” he said, “he was flagging anyway. So, yeah, he should be fine. He's not gone out with the rest of them today, but he should be fine.”

Captain Ali McCann underwent successful surgery on a hamstring injury this week. The Northern Irish midfielder was forced off with it during PNE’s Carabao Cup match against Everton last month and is expected to be out for a number of weeks.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Heckingbottom said: “He's wanting to get in and see everyone tomorrow. Everyone was pleased with how his op went.

“Going down that route, there’s better or less chance of reoccurrence and things like that.

“He got all the information before we made that decision. It's a blow for us not to have him, we know that, but so long as he comes back fit and well.”

Andrew Hughes and Brad Potts are working their way back to fitness after their respective injuries.

“Pottsy joined in with us Monday, did his own session Tuesday. So, he'll train again with us tomorrow.

“He’s progressing, it's going to be a good week for him next week because there's no midweek game.

“He'll get a lot more sessions in and around with us, with the boys, and a lot more football rather than doing a lot of work on his own, just to make sure he's doing enough. Hughesy we hope we'll get him involved tomorrow.”

North End’s opponents on Saturday, Lincoln City, have enjoyed a remarkable rise in the last 10 years.

They made it to the FA Cup quarter finals in 2017, the same year they were promoted back into the Football League.

They won League Two a couple of years later and, after seven seasons in the third tier, were crowned League One champions last season on 103 points.

Former assistant coaches Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw are now in charge at Sincil Bank after previous manager Michael Skubala departed for Bristol City in the summer.

Adam Reach and Tom Bayliss, previously of PNE, could feature against their old club.

Heckingbottom has a lot of respect for the journey the Imps have been on in the past decade.

“They’ve been great,” he told the Lancashire Post, “the infrastructure, the decisions that they've made over a long period of time, step by step.

“They’ve got themselves to a level now where, I think the important thing for them was they've got a real hunger about them to come and prove themselves at this level.

“It's new. It's exciting. Everyone's on board. The fans are on board. The club, everyone's fighting and scrapping.

“That enthusiasm, allied with their organisation, is what their weapon is.”

“So, they're not going to change. They're going to try and upset as many people and as many teams as they can this year.”

Heckingbottom is expecting a different challenge to what other sides in the division pose.

“It’s a group that's been together a long time. Yes, their manager left, but the coaching staff's the same. So why would they change? Watching them this season, they're not.

“They're trying to implement the exact same style and way of playing in this league.

“They've shown it to be successful, you know? They're going to be a really tough opposition, a totally different dynamic to playing a Championship game away at Watford.

“We certainly are preparing for one of the toughest types of games that we can get.”