Ryan Lowe is hoping Alan Browne and Jordan Storey will be available for Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship meeting with Ipswich Town.
There was surprise and concern among the PNE fanbase when the pair were missing from the squad when teams were announced ahead of the midweek defeat to Leicester City.
Andrew Hughes was also absent, with the defender suffering with a tight calf and therefore he’s also a doubt for the weekend, but speaking after the loss at the King Power Stadium, the manager provided an update on Browne and Storey.
Ryan said: “Browney and Jordan had a bit of an illness. Browney’s had it with the family, hopefully the kids are alright now, but he suffered with it.
“Jordan was up all night burning and felt he was coming down with something, so the doctor spoke to the two of them and gave them tablets or whatever they need to help them with that.
“We’ll have a conversation regarding Browney and Jordan when we get back to the hotel, and if they’re fit and able over the next day or two they’ll catch up with us somewhere along the way, and hopefully we can have them back for Ipswich.”
North End will want to be as strong as possible when they head to East Anglia this weekend to face an Ipswich Town side who have accumulated 25 points in their opening ten matches.
Having only been promoted last season, they’ve taken no time at all to acclimatise to life back in the Championship after four years away.
Ryan said: “It's going to be tough; we know that. Kieran McKenna’s got them playing some good football and they’re a threat at home – but so are we on our day so we’ve just got to get back to it.
“I thought we were fantastic without the ball [against Leicester], can we be a little bit better with the ball? That’s got to be our aim.
“It’s going to be a tough encounter, we know that, but it’s one we’re looking forward to.
“They’ve got good players, haven’t they? That group has been together for a little while and they got promoted last season out of the league and they’ve continued that on.
“There’s a lot of clubs that come up from League One and continue that and potentially go again. I don’t think Kieran will be getting too carried away because the league’s tough as it is. The same way we’re not.
“You’re going to have bumps in the road. We’ve had a little bump in the road now and that’s a game we want to go there and be positive, on the front foot and hopefully try and put it right.
“We know we’re in for a tough afternoon because they’re a good team.”