Preston’s season has been a tale of injuries, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
North End were crippled with injuries in December, came out of that spell and then started racking up wins. However, the injuries are mounting again. Brandon Barker lasted just 11 minutes on Saturday, and there are more concerns arising.
Tonight, Alex Neil has been speaking at a Q&A session with Preston fans, and has been asked for an injury update. Sadly, it’s not a positive one.
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Neil has confirmed that left back Andrew Hughes and winger Tom Barkhuizen are both out for the season. He has kept the news quiet to prevent teams from gaining an advantage, but has now broken his silence.
It’s unclear just what the duo have done, but they won’t play again this season. Hughes has been outstanding at left back in 2019, whilst Barkhuizen’s pace is key to our attacking style. Both will be huge misses in this pursuit of a play-off place.
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They will join Billy Bodin and Josh Harrop on the sidelines, who have missed most of the season. Bodin tore his ACL in August, just a month before Harrop suffered the same injury.
ACL’s can take around six to nine months to heal, and then with additional rehab, it can take almost a year to return. If any fans had hope of seeing the duo in action this season, their hopes have been dashed.
Neil has tonight confirmed that neither player will feature this season. Instead, they will be given the time to get back and ready for pre-season, and then get going for next season.