Will Keane, Emil Riis and the Preston North End injury news for Plymouth Argyle

Preston North End striker Will Keane is touch and go for Saturday’s match against Plymouth Argyle, after going off injured during the international break.

The Lilywhites’ top scorer was forced off after 10 minutes in the Republic of Ireland’s match against France, due to an adductor issue. He played no part in the following match against the Netherlands, having left the Irish camp early. But, PNE boss Ryan Lowe has assured the problem is not serious.

Keane will be assessed on Thursday and Friday with a decision then set to be made for the Plymouth clash. Lowe expects to welcome Ben Whiteman and Robbie Brady back into the fold, while new signings Milutin Osmajic and Liam Millar could debut. Ched Evans, Emil Riis and Calvin Ramsay remain on the sidelines.

“Everyone is available apart from Ched and Emil, they are the only two,” said Lowe on Thursday morning. “The fitness department and physios have done a fantastic job in getting players available. We are just waiting on Keano; he will train today and do some work. If it’s right, he will be fine but we’ll check him out over the next couple of days. We’ve addressed it and he’s had the scans.

“It is nowhere near as bad as first feared. He came off and did the right thing, because he said he felt some tightness. There are no big strains or anything in there; probably more fatigue from the games he’d played. He didn’t actually quite warm-up as well as they probably should’ve warmed him up. They got him on dead quick and I don’t think that was the right thing, but he’s fine and good in himself.

“It’s more a precaution, because he’s had one of those before when he was at Wigan. He’s done all his stuff with the physios since he’s been back in the building and he will be on the grass doing some bits today. We’ll then analyse him to see whether he is available for Saturday, but touch wood he will make it.

“He might not miss any (games) but we won’t be stupid. He is our leading goal scorer and has been fantastic. We are hoping he’s available for Saturday, but if not that’ll be my choice and potentially his. As we speak he is due to train today and be with the group. If he comes through then I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Riis had set the Plymouth match as his target return date, but that has been put on hold. The Danish striker suffered a serious knee injury back in January and hasn’t played since, but Preston want to be patient with the striker.

“No, he’s fine, we’ve just pulled him back a little bit because he’d actually built up a lot of strength in his legs,” said Lowe. “It was as if it was too quick for him. It’s only been seven-and-a-half months and those injuries are usually nine months, so we sort of dropped him back a little bit knowing we’ve got Keano and Liam who can fill that void. In the international break we let him get away to see his family.

“There is nothing up with him. He is on the grass again today and the plan will be for him to join in training next week. If we’d had no strikers we’d have kept pushing him, but that is not the case. Once he’s in, he’s in. He is hitting all of his max speeds. The plan of action will be for him to load up again this week, which he has been doing. He then might be on the outside and then come into full contact, but we’ll gradually get him into full training.”