Ryan Lowe’s verdict on Preston North End playing two up front as Milutin Osmajic excites boss

Calls for Preston North End to play two up front are common at present and manager Ryan Lowe hopes to see partnerships blossom.

Ched Evans is back fit and available, with Milutin Osmajic, Will Keane and Layton Stewart also competing for places in the final third. Emil Riis will provide a further boost when he returns to action - hopefully before Christmas - after suffering a serious knee injury 10 months ago.

Lowe has tinkered with his formation this season, to varying degrees of success. He has gone with wing-backs, a back four, box midfield and wingers, with a handful of summer recruits to fit into the side. PNE are now looking to get back on track having gone seven games without a win - and plenty of fans wish to see two strikers from the start.

“We have played two up front as well, but we’ve also played with the two tens, which brought us a lot of success,” said the PNE boss on Thursday. “Lately, we’ve played the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3, so we’ve got options. I think Milly is finding that, as each day passes by, he’s getting better. He is learning the language more. I did a video analysis with just me and him, but we had young Felipe (Rodriguez-Gentile) in with us.

“Before I could say to Felipe, he (Osmajic) had already said: ‘Yes, I know what you mean’ - so he’s getting there and understanding. Again, it’s tough isn’t it when you come to a different country? He’s played under different managers in Portugal and Spain and they always want different things. So, he’s getting the gist of what we want from him and as you’ve seen, he’s a fantastic player when he’s on fire.

“Sometimes he can get lost in the game and that’s probably because of the lack of English and the conversations on the pitch. But, he’s getting there and he is going to be a real threat, whether it’s playing up there with Ched, Emil when he’s back, Keano, or someone off him. It doesn’t really matter, he’s definitely going to be a threat. And the partnerships, it’s not just about strikers, it’s partnerships with wingers, tens and eights. So, however way we can form them, we will.”