Alan Irvine has explained Simon Whaley's absence from Saturday's pre-season win at Morecambe, citing a tight calf as the reason behind his withdrawal.

Aside from Liam Chilvers, Neal Trotman and Wayne Henderson, the 23-year-old was the only other notable first team absentee from the squad which triumphed 3-0 at Christie Park.

Irvine doesn't expect the right-winger to be out of action for too long after stating that the decision for him not to play was only a precaution.

The PNE Gaffer said: "He trained most of Friday and had a little bit of a tight calf. We actually had him checked out on the morning before we travelled and he was fine.

"Had it been a league game then we would have had him available to pick from but there is no point in taking any kind of risk at this particular time.

"Simon is obviously a player who will be an important part of our squad and he has worked very hard since we came back from the break.

"We have to make sure that we don't take any unnecessary risks, we've worked extremely hard and not picked up a strain so if we can continue like that then it's great."

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