Preston North End injury update on duo absent from squad against Birmingham City

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom delivered an update on Lewis Gibson and Ben Whiteman on Wednesday night.

The Lilywhites, as expected, were without their captain in the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City. Whiteman had hobbled out of last Saturday’s clash against West Brom, after taking a blow to his hip.

But, there was a surprise omission in the PNE squad with Gibson not involved at all - having played 90 minutes against the Baggies. Post-match, Heckingbottom was asked if he expects anyone back for Saturday’s trip to Sheffield United.

“Langy is closer,” said Heckingbottom. “We'll see how Ben's responded to an injection. He's (Whiteman) had a steroid injection to help get the inflammation down. Gibbo travelled down and was going to be involved today.

“He just felt a little bit tight yesterday in training and then when we went out this morning, I could tell he wasn't comfortable. So, we're not going to take the risk. It's pointless having him on the bench if at some point he's needed, and I'm looking around, knowing I can't put him on. It's just creating a problem, so we didn't use him.”

Ali McCann had been given every chance of playing again this season but there are now only two games remaining. The number eight injured his ankle in early-March, at Coventry City, and hasn’t featured since.

“Yeah, I think he had a little setback in terms of when he tried to step it up,” said Heckingbottom. “He's gone back a couple of days, but I'd still love to get him back, get him involved next week. Ali I'm less bothered about, because I know Northern Ireland will have a camp later, so it's not like he's not going to play again until pre-season.

“So, I wouldn't take risks, but if he's available to train next week and comes through it, he can play because it's not like he's coming back from a hamstring or muscle injury, where you're scared of any sort of relapse. It's just his ankle. If he can put up with that and it's stable enough, he'll be involved.”

One player who did make his return to action on Wednesday was Robbie Brady, for just his third league outing of an injury-hit campaign. The Irishman came off the bench in the second half and delivered some quality into the box from crosses. Offensively, Heckingbottom was impressed with PNE’s start to the second half and effort in the closing stages.

“Yeah, I thought we were good then and then I thought when we made the change at the end, we were good again,” said Heckingbottom. “T (Thierry Small) started getting the delivery, with bodies in there - Robbie attacking the back post, we know Robbie's going to get delivery.

“I felt there was good desire attacking the ball in the box. We could’ve maybe done it with a little bit more guile and being cute, getting in front of defenders. But there's certainly bodies in there and an intent to go and get on the end of it, and that's what we asked for. We want the delivery, we want to create the opportunities.

“The pleasing thing was that they were from set plays, they were from counter-attacks, they were from good play and then at the end we were getting good 1v1 moments and deliveries in the box. So yeah, we had a good go. I'll not get away from the frustrations of the goals and the fact that we didn't take the chances.”