Preston North End man's clear message to Milutin Osmajic as injury blows behind defender
It’s the defender’s first season at Preston North End
Preston North End defender Andrija Vukcevic says Milutin Osmajic must learn to control himself on the pitch.
The Lilywhites front man was hit with a three-game ban for violent conduct, after headbutting Hull City’s John Lundstram in the 0-3 defeat at Deepdale. For Osmajic, it takes the total number of games he has been banned for to 20 at PNE.
He has served eight and nine match bans, previously, for incidents against Burnley and Blackburn Rovers. Manager Paul Heckingbottom has been coy whenever asked about the striker, since his latest flashpoint.
Vukcevic is an international team mate of Osmajic’s and spoke to the press this week, ahead of the trip to Ipswich Town. Inevitably, he was asked about the striker’s discipline and didn’t shy away from the fact Osmajic has to learn at last.
”I think he's aware of that,” said Vukcevic. “I think it won't happen again. He needs to learn how to calm himself down in such a situation. I think this will serve him to learn from his mistakes. I already spoke to him after what happened and for him it’s mentally tough, not to be there with the boys.
“It was frustrating but yeah, he has to learn from his mistakes. From what I saw when I came here, everyone at the club loves him. And then, of course, he missed a lot of games, which is frustrating for the club and for himself. Now when he comes back, I don’t think it will happen again and hopefully, he can show what he had shown before.”
Vukcevic on injury return
As for Vukcevic’s own game, the left back is delighted to be back available after a tough couple of months out injured. The summer signing injured his hamstring in the win over Sheffield United, in late October.
He then returned to action at home to Coventry but suffered a minor setback 11 days later, against Norwich. After being sidelined for seven more games, the 29-year-old was back on the pitch last time out and is eager to make up for lost time.
“Yeah, it was really frustrating,” said Vukcevic. “I started playing regularly and then I came back, I started to play again, like two games and then I got injured again. It was really frustrating, mentally, but I tried to stay focused on my recovery process and I’m just really happy to be back, finally.
“I'm now more aware of my body. I know now what it takes to handle all of that... the training, the recuperation and yeah, just happy to be here. I think that's my problem (training how I play). I always give my 100%, whether it's in the game, training. I just try to do my best and maybe sometimes you need to calm down a little bit!”
On the mood amongst the squad this week and the determination to get back on track, he added: ”Everyone cannot wait for Saturday's game. Obviously, when you're on a bad run of games, you always want to play to turn this around.
“Hopefully, we can do. We've already been in the play-off (spots) and we dropped a little bit, but if you win two games in a row you're already there, fighting for the play-offs. We will give everything now to be back there again.”
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