Preston North End will be without Will Keane against Blackburn Rovers whilst defender Patrick Bauer is unlikely to feature after injury.

The centre-back was taken off after an hour against Fulham with his arm in a sling, making his involvement in Sunday's clash at Deepdale doubtful. Bauer was making his first start since last August after falling out of favour previously under Ryan Lowe.

PNE beat Fulham on penalties to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Whilst that was a great result for them, Rovers have enjoyed a free week to prepare after being knocked out against Blackpool.

“Yeah, so we need to assess him,” Heckingbottom told LEP post-match. 

“The medics were not happy with it at all and called for him to come off straight away. So, not sure. We’ve obviously been told what it could be, but we’ll wait and see. He has obviously not played for a long time. 

"We’ve played him in a couple of reserve games, to get him up to speed. I had the opportunity to play him tonight, so we’ll see, I hope it’s nothing that can keep him out for a long time.”

Striker Will Keane is also very likely to miss the game after picking up a hamstring injury over the international break. He missed their 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough last time out and didn't feature against the Cottagers.

"Will, we are not taking any risks with, so we will not include Will. It’s just a bit of common sense there, really," he said before the Fulham tie.

"We have got a lot of players at the minute and, touch wood, a decent squad in terms of numbers to pick from.

“There are usually times in a season where you are stretched and need to take more risks. But, at this moment we don’t. 

"So, we are not going to with Will. It’s just a really low-grade hamstring injury. He has not trained yet. We are keeping him out of the way and letting him do all his stuff in a controlled way.”