Paul Heckingbottom has confirmed Ben Whiteman will miss the clash against Blackburn Rovers due to an ankle injury.

The Preston North End boss has a fully fit squad, aside from his captain, who is set for an extended period on the sideline.

“We would have took Robbie (Brady) off to protect him as well; obviously we'd made the subs. But yeah, he should be fine," Heckingbottom said on injuries.

"Ryan Ledson took a whack. I think you could see him limping for a little while but that was just contact, so he ran that off. Just Ben who is going to be out for a while but apart from that, we are good.

“Yeah, it's one of those freak things,” he added on the nature of the injury.

“We've had a few of those. Robbie landed and did his; Ben literally just rocked his ankle out there. You've just got to cope with it, deal with it as a player, work hard to come back and make sure that when you are coming back, you're as close as possible.

“You're then less likely to get re-injured, having missed time and you're also more likely to get those first-team minutes as soon as possible, if you don't cut corners or anything, you keep pushing, you do everything that you need to do. One, for the ankle to get better and two, for your fitness.”

Whiteman is still expected to play again this season and the PNE boss expects him to still play a major role around the dressing room.

“Whether that's organising certain things, logistics, things for the players. We want him involved as often as possible," he said.

"It's tough because you're doing your rehab, you're in every day... you're probably in longer hours than the other boys as well, not preparing for the games.

“He was first in the dressing room as well after the game. But to be fair, that's something that I think is really good here and it's pleasing when you walk in. The boys who are out of the squad, whether that's through suspension, injury, left out, they're always in and around on match days, which is great."