Liam Lindsay has suffered a hamstring strain with the Preston North End defender now facing a spell on the sidelines.
North End lost 2-0 to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon with Will Smallbone and Tyrese Campbell both on the scoresheet.
After two wins over West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City, Preston have come back down to earth with a bump by losing two in a row.
Ryan Lowe did have to deal with a couple of injury problems against Stoke with defender Lindsay one to miss out.
The Scot will have surely been wanting to show his former club what they were missing.
Lindsay joined Preston on deadline day in February 2021 having been frozen out at Stoke.
Now a mainstay in the heart of Preston’s back three, Lindsay has developed into a star for North End and would be in contention for the Player of the Year award if it was voted on now.
However, Lindsay picked up an injury against Bristol City and had to be replaced by Bambo Diaby against Stoke.
Lowe has now admitted that Lindsay has suffered a hamstring strain so that was why he was unavailable against Stoke.
A hamstring strain could be just a matter of days on the sidelines or it could be weeks, depending on the severity.
Lowe didn’t disclose just how long Lindsay will be out for, but his availability for two games this week is surely in doubt now.
Preston travel to take on Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night and then it’s the big one as North End head to face bitter rivals Blackpool on Saturday.
North End have to hope that Lindsay returns quickly or that Patrick Bauer makes himself available.
The back three with Diaby involved just didn’t quite look right on Saturday, given his lack of minutes this season, and Preston will hope for positive injury news this week.