Preston North End injury news as updates given on 6 players ahead of Derby County clash

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom will welcome Will Keane and Milutin Osmajic back into his squad on Saturday.

The Lilywhites have had a fortnight to digest their defeat at Portsmouth, and recharge ahead of this weekend’s home encounter with Derby County. Heckingbottom’s team are aiming to climb away from the bottom end of the Championship table, with them currently in 20th spot.

North End had five days off last week, after two days of work post-Pompey. It was back to it on Monday and building up to the visit of Paul Warne’s team. On the team news front, a couple of first team players could remain sidelined - but Heckingbottom’s striking department looks set to be boosted. International duo Ali McCann and Stefan Thordarson are also back in fine condition.

He said: “Robbie (Brady) is closer, but not near for us at the minute. Ched (Evans) has been training and Will has been training, so that is good. Obviously, Milly is back. Liam (Lindsay) is close, whether he is close enough for this game we will see. When he went off, we knew what the issue was. We managed to get him booked in for that surgery straight after Portsmouth, to give ourselves the best chance for this game. You are hoping that everyone then stays fit at the same time. We have never really had that.

“Keano is back. He has only trained for a couple of days, but he’s back which is good. We had him involved with us just before the break. But, we were sort of limited. The last few days he’s been in and done everything with us, so he has not missed anything this week. He’s silky smooth with the ball and tactically, he is good - he gets it. Unique, I think that is the bit you miss.

“He can knit things together and is comfortable playing up front as a nine. He’s also very good at linking play and certainly, we want him in the box whenever we’re getting chances because he is a good finisher. So yeah, we missed him. We speak about Milly, because that was the headline with what happened but for me, we missed Will just as much.”

On having Osmajic back, he added: “Yeah, it’s important. You just look at the shifts Emil put in and games he played. The big thing for me, and where I really felt it, was when we were looking to make subs and change the game. I was happy with lots of things Emil did; he worked his socks off for the team.

“But, when you want to make an impact - whether it be change shape or go with two physical players at the top end of the pitch - we never had that option really. It is not until you are missing people that you really feel it, I think.”

Evans is getting closer to being available if needed, but with Osmajic and Keane both back in the fold, PNE’s boss admitted game time is unlikely for the 35-year-old. Evans signed a player-coach deal in the summer and hasn’t played a match since the end of last season.

“If Ched would’ve been fit during this (last period), he would’ve got minutes on the pitch,” said Heckingbottom. “Ched is not going to be a player now who plays 90 minutes for us and he understands that - he knows where he is at.

“But, certainly with his experience and the type of centre-forward he is, if he’d have been fit he’d have been used in one or two of the games of late - because we have been light there.

“Ideally, we want to make sure we’ve got enough forwards that Ched is not getting minutes. He is making that transition from playing to coaching. He’s in the position now where he’s been joining in sessions and bits and pieces, so he is fit and available now.