Ryan Lowe confirms worrying injury to Preston North End man as blow suffered at Swansea City

Preston North End wide man Robbie Brady was forced off with a calf injury in the first half of Friday night's clash at Swansea City.

Manager Ryan Lowe made six changes for the away match, with Brady brought in for his first start since being shown a red card against Cardiff City - in late November. Also recalled were Andrew Hughes, Ryan Ledson, Duane Holmes and Ched Evans - while goalkeeper Dai Cornell made his first league start for PNE since signing two summers ago.

Brady operated down the left flank in a 3-4-2-1 system and curled a shot from distance just wide mid way through the first half. But, before referee Bobby Madley blew for the break, North End's number 11 went down and the signals for him to be replaced were instant. Liam Millar came on and scored Preston's equaliser, but there will be concern over Brady given his previous record of calf problems.

"It's his calf I think," said Lowe post-match. "He is disappointed. He's been training excellently Rob, for the last few weeks. Since he got sent off he's got his head down, hasn't complained and just got on with it. He's travelled, geed the lads up and lo and behold he gets his first start, is doing a fantastic job and then his calf pops a little bit. So yeah, he's disappointed and I am disappointed. But, ultimately that's football isn't it?"

As for his team selection on the night and Cornell's rare outing, Lowe added: "I am not looking at player's contributions just now, I am just disappointed with the result. I don't want to talk about individual performances, because we've just lost a game of football which is raw at the moment. The changes were made for reasons. If we'd have drawn everyone would say the changes were fine. We've got a squad I feel can compete and where everyone can step in and perform when the time is right. And they did, but we just had a lapse in concentration for the last two minutes.