Preston North End vs Aston Villa - Preston to assess duo ahead of Villa clash

Jermaine Beckford and Paul Gallagher will both be assessed ahead of Preston's Sky Bet Championship clash with Aston Villa at Deepdale.

Gallagher suffered a dead leg against Wigan last Friday which ruled him out of the draw with Birmingham, while Beckford has missed the last five weeks with a hamstring injury.

If he does not make it on Saturday, he should certainly be fit to return after the international break. Marnick Vermijl has a similar injury but he is not in contention.

Tommy Spurr and Liam Grimshaw have both recovered after being sidelined by a bout of flu.

Villa will be without the suspended Leandro Bacuna.

The 25-year-old full-back was shown his fifth yellow card of the campaign during the draw at Barnsley and must serve a one-match ban.

Villa conceded another late goal on Tuesday night as their drawing run reached five Championship matches. Roberto Di Matteo's team have not won a league game in eight outings and the manager may make some changes in search of that elusive victory.

Nathan Baker, Rudy Gestede, Ashley Westwood, Alan Hutton, Jordan Amavi and the fit-again Ross McCormack are all options for the Italian.