Preston North End head coach Frankie McAvoy has hinted that Connor Wickham may still have a future at Deepdale despite undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury.

The 28-year-old trained with the Lilywhites for a number of weeks following his release from Crystal Palace before signing a permanent contract having sufficiently impressed enough behind the scenes at Euxton.

Wickham made his Championship bow for North End against West Bromwich Albion as a substitute and then made his first start a few days later against Cheltenham Town in the Carabao Cup, but it ended in disaster.

The striker pulled up after a few minutes in severe discomfort and a week later he went under the knife to correct the issue, with McAvoy now confirming it as a 'severe hamstring injury'.

Despite his initial contract only running until mid-January which will likely be a point in time where Wickham is still recovering from his injury, the door has not been closed on a potential return in the future.

 

 

 

 

“I wish Connor as quick a recovery as possible and hope that he comes through it with flying colours," McAvoy told North End's media team.

"He has undergone surgery and we have a great team here to help him, Jacko [Matt Jackson] and his team are excellent, and we just wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he can get back in to the fold as quick as he can."

The Verdict

Getting Wickham back into the fold when he's able to suggests that he still has a future at North End.

He may have been taken out of the 25-man squad until January and that move suggests he won't be recovered before then, but there's a possibility he could return to that very same squad once he is healed.

It was a cruel twist of fate for the former Premier League striker who was hoping to put his past injury woes behind him only for them to return very quickly.

Despite McAvoy not closing the door on him it would be a massive surprise if PNE were to extend his deal beyond its current date as it's perhaps too big of a risk if he suffers another reoccurence.