Ryan Lowe is expecting a competitive Championship clash against Rotherham United on Friday afternoon.
The Millers, who sit bottom of the table and have a huge task on their hands if they’re to maintain their status in the division, come to Deepdale for the first half of an Easter double-header.
Unbeaten in four in PR1, they always tend to give North End a good test and the gaffer knows his side will need to be right at it if they’re to come out on top.
He said: “We’ve got to treat it as a competitive Championship game, regardless of where they are and what they’ve done. They know they haven’t been good enough and that’s their situation to look after.
“Our situation is a bit different. We can’t take anything for granted because they’ve had some good results against some good teams, and they’ve taken teams to the wire.
“They’ve scored goals. Yes, they’d like to score more and keep the back door shut more, but we’re going to treat it as just another game, regardless of who it is.
“If we perform to the levels that we know we can perform at then we’re confident we can get a positive result, but you’re going to have to do the dirty work first and the hard work, the hard running and the battling for first and second balls, and let the football take care of itself after that.”
PNE were missing Alan Browne and Emil Riis for the previous fixture, against Plymouth Argyle, while Brad Potts and Milutin Osmajić were also forced off with injuries early on in Devon.
The break arguably came at a good time to give them the best chance of recovering, and three of those aforementioned players should be involved on Friday.
Ryan said: “The international lads have come back in one piece which is pleasing. Pottsy’s obviously not going to be available for this weekend or for the foreseeable, but we don’t know how long for just yet. We’re going to monitor that week by week.
“Milly’s joined in the last couple of days in training so he’s now fine. Hopefully he gets through today.
“Alan Browne’s back training which is a big plus for us and a bonus, so it’s been a good break. The lads have had some rest. They’ve trained excellently this week so hopefully leading into tomorrow they can carry the performances they’ve been putting in in training into the game on Friday afternoon.”
While four senior players have been away with their country during the past week or so, Ryan called 16-year-old Theo Mawene up to train with the first team.
The tricky attacking midfielder – brother of Noah and son of PNE legend Youl – has really caught the eye and may get an opportunity as a result.
Ryan said: “He’s excellent. He’s been top class to be fair. He’s come up with Noah, who’s looked after him as big brothers do.
“He’s taken training to another level. I was speaking to some of the seniors about how he carries the ball and how he equips himself and how hard he trains. His attacking style and prowess is very good.
“He’s been pleasing to work with this week. He’s caught the eye of course. When the lads are away on international you need some bodies. We’ve got some fantastic young players down at Springies and he’s one of them.
“He’s been with us all week and he’ll be with us over the Easter weekend, so he’ll be in the squad for the next few games. He’s been a breath of fresh air and we want that to continue.”
