Preston North End manager dedicates win over Blackpool to top scorer ruled out for the rest of the season

Brad Potts scored the first goal for Preston in a 3-1 win, with Ben Whiteman and Tom Cannon giving the home side a three-goal cushion before a late tap in for Jerry Yates cut the deficit down.

After the game, Lowe reflected on the omission of Evans, who has been absent since being substituted in the 2-1 win over Rotherham United two weeks ago, and ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Lowe said: “It is serious but we'll have to comment on it this week. He's been to see a couple of specialists on his neck and his back so it's not looking promising. We'll probably do something this week to get a full schedule and plan of what it looks like and what will happen.

"There's potentially a chance of him having to get some surgery somewhere along the line but we're waiting for that to unfold.

"We're going to miss him between now and the end of the season which is a big blow for him and us. I'm gutted for him because he's been in a rich vein of form but his health is more important.

"We'll address that with the physios and surgeons over the next few days and we'll take it from there. That win was for him today.”

When playing for previous club Fleetwood Town, Evans actually suffered a fracture of his spine, something which he was fully recovered from. It’s an injury that can sometimes be aggravated for the Welshman and occurred when he received a bang to the back of the neck by a forearm, which also happened against the Millers.

Lowe was asked whether the issue could have flared up again, he said: “Potentially, something's not quite right. I don't want to go into too much detail but at this moment in time his health is more important than anything.

"We'll probably put a statement out next week regarding it once we get more information from the doctors and the surgeons. He won't kick a ball again this season.”