Ben Whiteman faces a spell on the sidelines after the Preston North End midfielder suffered a ‘small tear in his thigh’.
North End beat Swansea City 1-0 at Deepdale on Tuesday night.
Brad Potts scored the only goal of the game as PNE grabbed a second home win in a matter of days.
Lowe’s men produced a battling second-half display to come away with all three points but it wasn’t all good news.
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Midfielder Whiteman was taken off injured against the Swansea midway through the first half.
Ryan Ledson came on and did a great job in front of the back three but PNE fans were understandably concerned about Whiteman.
The 26-year-old has been a mainstay of the North End midfield this season and has even been captain when Alan Browne has been on the bench lately.
Whiteman is vital to Ryan Lowe’s approach but the North End boss will now have to do without the former Manchester United youngster.
Lowe has now been quoted by North End’s official Twitter account as saying that Whiteman has suffered a tear in his thigh.
Lowe added that Whiteman will now miss the next two games – Reading on Friday night and Millwall next weekend in the last game before the World Cup break.
Whiteman is expected to be back after the World Cup break though with PNE not expecting this to be a long-term problem.
Only losing Whiteman for two games is probably the best case scenario for North End, limiting his absence.
This likely means that Ledson will come into midfield to replace Whiteman in that holding midfield role.
Ledson has been in and out of the team this season but will now receive a couple of starts before domestic football heads away for a month.