Preston North End manager Frankie McAvoy has revealed that Ched Evans will not be ready to make his return to action in the club's League Cup clash with Liverpool on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Lilywhites boss also confirmed that Matthew Olosunde stepped up his recovery from his injury by featuring in a behind closed doors game on Saturday whilst Ali McCann will be available for the club's clash with Jurgen Klopp's side.

Josh Murphy is set to miss this game after McAvoy revealed that the winger picked up an ankle injury in training last week.

The 26-year-old will now be forced to watch on from the sidelines for several weeks due to the severity of his issue.

Preston will be looking to respond to their recent defeat to Blackpool by producing an encouraging performance against Liverpool.

If the Lilywhites fail to step up to the mark at Deepdale, they could be in for a tough evening as the Reds have scored at least three goals in every away game that they have played this season.

Ahead of this fixture, McAvoy shared an update on Evans, Olosunde, McCann and Murphy.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (as cited by the club's official Twitter account) about Murphy, McAvoy said: "Josh Murphy injured himself in training on Friday, he's hurt his ankle and so he will be out for a few weeks.

 

 

Making reference to Evans, Olosunde and McCann, the Preston boss added: "Ched will not be available, Matthew Olosunde got minutes in a behind closed doors game at Springfields on Saturday and he came through that well and Ali McCann comes back into the fold for this one."

The Verdict

When you consider that Preston desperately need to pick up a positive result in the not too distant future in order to kick-start their 2021/22 campaign, it will be intriguing to see how they will fare against Liverpool.

Whereas the Lilywhites are not expected to beat their Premier League opponents due to the form that both sides have illustrated in recent months, they may be able to deliver a promising performance against the Reds if their players step up to the mark.

McCann and Olosunde will both be hoping to become regular starters for Preston in the Championship by delivering some impressive displays in their upcoming fixtures.

Meanwhile, it could be argued that McAvoy should be looking to ease Murphy and Evans back into action when they are fit enough to feature.