Preston North End v Coventry City injury and early team news as 8 out of Championship clash
Latest injury news from both camps ahead of Preston North End v Coventry City on Saturday, October 19 at 12.30 pm.
Preston North End team news
Milutin Osmajic serves the second of an eight-game ban following an incident in the draw with Blackburn Rovers. He was allowed to play matches after the initial charge, but then the FA decided on his punishment - which included a big fine.
Captain Ben Whiteman is also suspended, after accumulating five yellow cards this season. Players are not allowed to pick up five yellows before the 19th game of the season, otherwise they are given a one-match ban.
Striker Will Keane is unavailable because of a thigh tendon injury - he will remain sidelined for a good few weeks yet. Patrick Bauer has had to undergo surgery on his elbow, while player-coach Ched Evans is not ready to make a return to action. Sam Greenwood does return from suspension, though.
Out: Ben Whiteman, Will Keane, Patrick Bauer, Ched Evans, and Milutin Osmajic.
Coventry City team news
Tatsuhiro Sakamoto will play some part against North End at the weekend. He suffered a ‘nasty’ blow to his thigh against Blackburn Rovers and required eight stitches to fix up the wound, but is available to play. Haji Wright, Joel Latibeaudiere and Brandon Thomas-Asante were all on long-haul flights, with the USA, Jamaica, and Ghana respectively, but have returned unscathed.
They did arrive back at different times, so Coventry have had to manage that dynamic. Jake Bidwell will be missing, but the defender’s injury is not as bad as the Sky Blues initially feared. He suffered a knee ligament strain a fortnight ago against Sheffield Wednesday, but at most he will miss the next two games.
“He will miss this weekend, it’s too soon for him, but he won’t be too long,” said Robins to Coventry Live. “They were looking at about eight weeks, but it’s been a couple of weeks already and I think he will be quicker than that, a lot quicker than that.”
Raphael Borges Rodrigues hasn't featured for Coventry since pre-season, with a thigh injury ruling him out. Jamie Allen is also sidelined with a knee ligament injury, but like Bidwell isn't too far from returning either. He's tipped to come back around mid-November.
Out: Jake Bidwell, Raphael Borges Rodrigues, Jamie Allen.