Ryan Lowe confirmed Andrew Hughes won’t be available for the weekend’s visit to Hull City.
The manager said earlier in the week there was a big possibility the left-footed defender would return on Saturday from the calf injury which has kept him sidelined since the end of September.
However, the Welshman isn’t quite ready to feature just yet.
Ryan said: “It won’t happen this weekend. Hopefully next week against Coventry he’ll be back on the grass training with the group.
“He’s recovering well and doing all the right things. He’s in the gym working hard but we just don’t want to risk anyone too soon.
“Calvin Ramsay will be back with us on Monday and come right into training. He’s going to train with Liverpool over the next few days so he’ll be ready to go next week.
“We’ll hopefully get him some minutes in a Lancashire Senior Cup game on the 7th November I think it is. We’ll get him some minutes along with the rest of the group, and Hughesy will be available.
“Ali [McCann] and Jack [Whatmough] will probably be back just after the international break I think.”
North End are taking on a Hull City side this weekend currently sat eighth in the Championship, having taken 20 points from their opening 13 matches.
With Liam Rosenior in his first full season as head coach, the former defender has put his own stamp on the way his side play since his appointment in November 2022.
“They’re going well,” Ryan said. “They play a lot of exciting football, they try and play through the thirds and move you around.
“They’ve got some good footballers and he’s got a good brand of football, so we know it’s going to be a tough encounter, but as always it’s one we’re looking forward to.
“There’s different challenges each week in the Championship and this is going to be another challenge to try and get a positive result.”
In the midweek draw against Southampton, the manager opted to go for a back four instead of a three which PNE tend to line up with.
There’s plenty of flexibility for movement in formations with the options currently available to the gaffer, with Brad Potts and Liam Millar just a couple of examples of players who can operate in a number of positions.
Ryan added: “Sometimes you can look at things a little bit differently depending on what you want.
“Whether it’s inverted wingers, whether it’s inverted wing backs, whatever it looks like – fours, eight or tens, there’s loads of options of course.
“But when you’ve got a squad and you’ve got them options you need to utilise it at the right times, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
