The 6 players set to miss West Brom v Preston North End as Lilywhites prepare for Championship clash

Preston North End and West Brom both have injury problems to contend with ahead of their EFL Championship clash at the Hawthorns on January 1, 2025.

A busy festive period which has seen a large amount of games crammed into a fortnight of action has seen squads tested to their fullest. Unfortunately for both teams, they've lost players to injury along the way, but thankfully from a PNE perspective, the injuries aren't expected to be too serious.

Back-to-back wins for the Lilywhites has had them starting to think about solidifying their place in the division, rather than being embroiled in a relegation battle with eight points now separating them and the drop zone. West Brom have yet to win during Chris Brunt's caretaker spell in charge, but they will be encouraged by their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.

Preston North End team news

Paul Heckingbottom will once again be able to call upon the services of Liam Lindsay after he served a suspension. His two yellow cards against QPR resulted in a two-match ban, because he had already been sent off earlier in the season, so the punishment was more severe.

The Scottish defender will be tasked with trying to break in to a three-man defence of Jordan Storey, Jack Whatmough, and Andrew Hughes who kept Hull City at bay, keeping a clean sheet. North End did concede to Sheffield Wednesday, but limited them to just three shots on target, and so the manager is faced with either re-introducing Lindsay, or only putting him on the bench.

Brad Potts and Robbie Brady are both doubts for the trip to the Midlands however. Brady hasn't played since coming off against QPR with cracked ribs. The nature of the injury means there is no definitive return date for the Republic of Ireland international and instead he'll come back when he is able to deal with a certain amount of pain.

“He is out, so I am not happy,” said Heckingbottom to the Evening Post when questioned about Potts absence.

“It’s nothing serious and nothing untoward, just a bit of damage in his knee. I think you saw him hyperextend it, so again, we will just see how he is day-to-day. I would say he is unlikely (for West Brom) but we’ll see.”

West Brom team news

Alex Mowatt and Mason Holgate were both absent from West Brom's 1-1 draw with Sheffield United. The pair both have groin strains and will undergo scans to assess the severity of their injuries, but in the case of Mowatt, it's not expected to be too serious. They are both very unlikely to play on New Year's Day according to the Express & Star.

The hosts are down a player after Paddy McNair's loan expired. He joined them on a six-month loan deal shortly after agreeing to join MLS side San Diego. The season in America is due to start in February, and so McNair was at the Hawthorns to keep fit. He made a total of three appearances for the West Midlands club, and last played at the end of October, before being dealt a hamstring injury.

Semi Ajayi is out until either February or March afer undergoing surgery on his hamstring. He suffered his injury towards the end of October and a timeframe of 16 weeks was placed on his return.

Daryl Dike has had his fair share of injury problems, having suffered two consecutive Achilles injuries. He was working towards his return but felt a slight problem in his hamstring, which was a slight setback.

West Brom transfer insider DOOD is reporting that the American striker is 'back on the grass' and so it shouldn't be too long until he's in contention once again. He's not expected to feature on Wednesday (January 1) however.

Out: Alex Mowatt, Mason Holgate, Semi Ajayi, and Daryl Dike.