Preston striker Louis Moult will not be rushed back from serious injury

It is 13 months since the striker ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and suffered damage to other parts of the joint.

Moult is able to train on the grass at Springfields and Neil says it is a case of him taking small steps and gradually building-up to full fitness.

PNE boss Neil said: “It is slow process for Louis and it will still be a significant amount of time from now to get back.

“He’s back out on the grass which is great and is making good progress. It’s just small steps for him at the moment.

“We don’t want to apply too much pressure on him because basically he had a whole knee reconstruction.

“That naturally takes time to recover from and you don’t rush back.

“Louis did his ACL, the meniscus, the full lot really, it was serious.”

Moult, 28, was hurt in the 3-2 defeat against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in August 2019.

It was a non-impact injury, the £450,000 signing from Motherwell stretching to reach a through ball and all his weight went through his left knee.

He had surgery around a month after suffering the injury, the delay in between to allow swelling to go down.

In June Moult had a minor operation to clear up some discomfort in the knee.

Neil said: “When he was doing his work coming back the meniscus was just catching.

“So they cleaned part of the knee up just to solve that.”

With Moult a long-term absentee and goals not having flowed from the No.9 role last season, it is a striker which is top of Neil’s wanted list.

Time is ticking in the transfer window, with the deadline for EFL clubs being on October 16 – there is a fortnight’s domestic window after the close of the main window on October 5.

North End have looked at both the permanent and loan market for a striker, with the loan route maybe holding more favour at the moment.

Said Neil: “I’m certainly hopeful we can do something.

“Am I confident? It is difficult to say. I’m not going to add anyone just to appease people and say we have done something.

“What we need to do is add quality to help us, if not there is no point.

“All that happens if you don’t add quality is that you tick a box and are still playing with the same sort of squad as previously.

“That is where we up to at the moment.

“It has been difficult for us with how Covid has affected the finances but we will keep working.”

PNE’s trip to Brentford has moved from next Saturday to the following day, 2pm kick off. It will be North End’s first visit to Brentford’s new ground. The game has moved because Brentford are playing in the Carabao Cup on Thursday.