Preston turn attentions to Stoke game after Christmas wipeout

As expected, Thursday’s trip to West Bromwich Albion was called-off yesterday due to the high number of Covid cases in the PNE squad.

The Boxing Day clash with Sheffield United had gone the same way, it understood that North End were dealing with around a dozen positive tests.

Their pre-Christmas visit to Millwall on December 18 had been postponed because the London club had a number of Covid cases.

North End are due to face Stoke at the bet365 Stadium next Monday (January 3).

All being well, most of those who has returned positive tests should be out of isolation by then and have done some training.

There is a protocol for how much training can be done by a player returning from Covid, with a phased return for the first two sessions.

North End have had their Euxton training ground shut since Thursday.

That has allowed a deep clean to be done and obviously prevented players mixing.

Players have been doing fitness work at home and it is expected that group training will resume later this week.

PNE haven’t been alone in being hit by Covid outbreaks, with a number of EFL and Premier League games having been called-off.

At least the postponements of the last three games have been done with a decent amount of notice.

Millwall called-off PNE’s visit three days before, while North End gave the EFL plenty of notice ahead of the Sheffield United and WBA matches.

Compare that to the situation yesterday when Blackburn’s visit to Hull City was postponed around two hours before kick-off. The EFL have stated that games can be postponed if a team cannot field 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper.

What clubs are having to consider too, is that unvaccinated players who are deemed close contacts have to isolate – adding to the numbers of those unavailable.

The three postponements in a row mean that Ryan Lowe has only taken charge of one game since his appointment as PNE manager – the 2-1 win over Barnsley on December 11.

When the Sheffield United game fell by the wayside, Lowe admitted that he expected the Hawthorns clash with West Bromwich to go the same way.

All being well the Stoke game will go ahead and there should be a strong away following in the Potteries.

After Stoke, Lowe’s men head to South Wales to play Cardiff in the FA Cup on Sunday, January 9, that behind closed doors due to restrictions from the Welsh authorities.

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