Callum Brittain and Arnor Sigurdsson missed out against Preston North End due to injury and illness.

The pair were both absent from the Championship win over Bristol City but had been declared fit ahead of Blackburn Rovers' trip to Deepdale.

In reality, that was a slight red herring. Brittain was not ready after missing the last few weeks with a knee injury whilst Sigurdsson remained ill for most of lats week. The Icelandic forward trained on Saturday but was not considered for the matchday squad.

Eustace also confirmed that Lewis Baker was taken off for tactical reasons, though his injury sustained from Sam Greenwood's challenge made him an easy consideration to be withdrawn.

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"Cal wasn't quite ready and Siggy has still been poorly this week, he only trained on Saturday. It was a decision made on that as a result," Eustace told The Lancashire Telegraph.

"We were going to make a tactical change anyway because we missed some physicality but Lewis took a knock and he was struggling. That made the decision a little easier."

Eustace felt Greenwood's red card was justified due to the high nature of the tackle but admitted those types of challenges are common in pressurised derby environments.

"It looked a little bit high, I won't lie, but we have to remember it's a local derby," he said.

"It is blood and thunder, bodies are on the line. Those are the challenges that you expect in a local derby.

"It was quite a high challenge so it probably was a red card. They will be disappointed that their lad got sent off, as we are with Owen getting sent off.

"The lad nipped in from of Owen and they made the most of it. We will have to look at it, I haven't seen it back yet."