Alan Browne suspended as Preston start life after Alex Neil against Norwich

Posted Thursday, April 01, 2021 by PA

Preston start life after Alex Neil with the visit of Sky Bet Championship leaders Norwich on Good Friday.

The long-serving boss left North End after a 1-0 loss at home to Luton on March 20, their eighth league defeat in 12 matches.

Neil’s assistant Frankie McAvoy has stepped up on an interim basis until the end of the season and will be supported by midfielder Paul Gallagher, who could still have a playing role to play during the remaining eight fixtures.

Captain Alan Browne is unavailable for the visit of the Canaries with two more games of a three-match suspension to serve while Declan Rudd (knee), Patrick Bauer (Achilles) and Louis Moult (knee) are long-term absentees despite all making good progress with their rehabilitation.

Norwich manager Daniel Farke has seen his injury list grow during an international break where numerous players were away from the club.

Centre-back Ben Gibson has been ruled out of the remainder of the campaign with an ankle injury, while fellow defender Christoph Zimmermann has picked up an untimely hamstring issue that could see him miss up to six weeks.

Greece international Dimitrios Giannoulis should be fit despite coming off with suspected concussion in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn last time out, but Lukas Rupp (hamstring) and Adam Idah (hernia) are not in contention yet.

The Canaries remain without Michael McGovern and Sam Byram (both hamstring) while youngster Josh Martin has only featured once in 2021 due to several minor issues.