Ryan Lowe breaks down international break for Preston North End with contract decisions to come soon

North End have a bit of downtime – although five of their senior squad will be away on international duty – before getting back into it with Blackpool next up on April 1.

The Preston squad have already had a few days off at the start of this week but are back in work for the end of it, before having the weekend off and turning their focus to next week’s derby.

Lowe himself will have a little time away but then important matters will get their chance to be addressed, including the future of six out of contract senior players.

“I won't come away from it too much, I'll probably spend a few days with my family and the kids but you don't ever get away from it, that happens at the end of the season,” Lowe said. “We have an important game after the international break and we've got to make sure the lads are right.

"They'll have a bit of time but they won't have what they had over the World Cup break. We'll make sure they're ticking over nicely, it'll probably be a little time to reflect and maybe to start discussions and talking about players and contracts and whatnot. But I'll think about that when I've got a bit of time.”

Lowe feels that his players are deserving of their time off, especially after their heavy defeat to Middlesbrough last Saturday.

It was a bridge too far for PNE in the North East, according to Lowe, after a seven game unbeaten run came to an end.

He said: “The lads will have Sunday, Monday - some of the lads will be going away for internationals. They'll be in Wednesday, Thursday, Friday then be off Saturday, Sunday and then we'll have a full week.

"They've got a few days in but they've also got a few days off either side of it. I think it's important to rest and recover them because they've been excellent I must say and Saturday was probably a step too far.”