Izzy Brown was looking forward to getting his career back on track this season, but has sadly suffered the cruellest of blows.
The playmaker joined North End on a free transfer from Chelsea this summer, finally looking to find a home after a series of loan spells.
Brown looked bright as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Celtic. He would have expected more playing time against Bolton Wanderers this evening.
Sadly, Preston have now confirmed that Brown has suffered a ruptured Achilles in training and will now miss a ‘significant’ period of time.
Patrick Bauer suffered the same injury in December and only made his return this pre-season.
You would therefore expect Brown to miss a similar period of time; at least six months, possibly more depending on rehabilitation.
That would see Brown miss out until around January or February, at which point he would only have a few months left on his contract.
You could sense all summer that Brown was excited about this opportunity, looking to prove that he had put injuries behind him and could be a real threat in the Championship.
This blow comes at a terrible time for Brown, just as he picking up pace in pre-season.
Fans will recall the 2018 pre-season injuries to Sean Maguire and Billy Bodin, so it almost feels like the pre-season injury curse is back.
All we can do is wish Izzy all the best in his recovery and hope to see him in a North End shirt again soon after such a fleeting appearance on Saturday.