Preston North End

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Preston North End head coach Paul Heckingbottom felt let down by Milutin Osmajic following the Montenegrin's eight-match ban for biting an opponent.

The former Sheffield United boss welcomes back the 25-year-old forward for Preston's Championship game at home to Derby County on Saturday but accepts he has been left disappointed by the circumstances leading to Osmajic's absence.

Osmajic received the lengthy punishment by the FA for biting Blackburn Rovers' Owen Beck in September's Lancashire derby. He was also fined £15,000.

"He knows he’s let us down, let himself down, let me down, let the team down, let the fans down," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Listen, people make mistakes but why we feel let down, when we’re looking at our performances over the piece, and the chances we’ve been creating, I want to make sure he realises that he could have been scoring goals.

"People could have been saying some great things about him - so he knows he’s let himself down in that respect and also from our point of view we’re missing the goals and the points".

Osmajic scored twice in a 3-0 home victory over Watford last month, his final appearance before his ban started and over the period without him, North End have found the target just eight times and won just once, in all competitions.

"Its been a big loss because I think he responded really well when he came through the door, we were really pleased with him, and hopefully we can pick up where we left off," Heckingbottom added.

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Preston are looking to end a run of five Championship games without a win (D3 L2) when they welcome Derby to Deepdale on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams have lost just once in their last seven (W2 D4) but have struggled away from Pride Park. However, they did pick up their first win on the road at Coventry in their last away game.

• Preston North End have won just two of their last 18 league games against Derby County (D5 L11), failing to score in eight of their last 10 matches against the Rams.

• Derby County have lost just one of their last nine away league games against Preston North End (W5 D3) despite failing to score on three of their last four visits to Deepdale.

• Since the start of April, only Coventry City (13) have lost more Championship matches than Preston North End (12).

• Derby manager Paul Warne ended a 17-game winless away run in the Championship with a 2-1 win over Coventry in their last away game. Warne last won consecutive Championship away games in March 2021 with Rotherham United.

• Derby County's Ebou Adams has made 60 tackles in the Championship this season, six more than any other player.

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Preston North End's Ali McCann helped Northern Ireland secure promotion to League B of the Nations League after winning Group C3.

McCann played the whole game in central midfield in a 2-0 win at home to Belarus and was substituted after 76 minutes of the 2-2 draw in Luxembourg.

His Lilywhites team-mate Stefan Teitur Thordarson also played twice for Iceland as they missed out on a promotion play-off spot in Group B4.

Thordarson played 68 minutes in midfield in their 2-0 win in Montenegro on Saturday and came on at half-time in a 4-1 defeat in Wales on Tuesday night.

Victory for Iceland in Cardiff would have seen them finish in second place and enter the play-offs for promotion to League A.

They will instead now face a play-off in March next year to determine whether they remain in League B or are relegated to League C.

Preston are 20th in the Championship and welcome Derby County to Deepdale on Saturday afternoon as they look to end a run of five games without a win.

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Two Preston North End players will be on international duty this weekend and for Ali McCann in particular there is a lot at stake.

The midfielder is part of the Northern Ireland squad who are top of their Nations League group in League C. Victories over Belarus and Luxembourg would guarantee promotion to League B.

Stefan Teitur Thordarson is away with Iceland who need just one point from their trip to Montenegro to be assured of avoiding automatic relegation from League B.

Forward Milutin Osmajic was left out of the Montenegro squad but warmed-up for his return from an eight match ban for biting an opponent by scoring five goals in a reserve team match this week.

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Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic scored five goals for the reserve team in an 8-4 victory over Wigan Athletic as he nears a first-team return.

Osmajic has missed the past eight games after being banned by the FA for biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck in the Lancashire derby in September. He was also fined £15,000.

He is eligible to return in Preston’s Championship game against Derby County at Deepdale on Saturday, 23 November, after the international break.

North End were 1-0 down to Wigan Athletic in their Central League Cup game on Wednesday afternoon before the 25-year-old took over, firing a first-half hat-trick to turn the tie around.

The Montenegro international played all 90 minutes and added two more with Theo Mawene, Layton Stewart and Kian Taylor also on target in the victory.

Osmajic has scored five goals in 11 appearances for Paul Heckingbottom's side this season.

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom feels his team should have come away with all three points after their goalless draw with Sunderland on Wednesday.

North End started well, having carved a chance in the opening two minutes but Sam Greenwood and Kaine Kesler-Hayden were unable to provide a clinical finish.

The hosts then had another opportunity to get ahead when forward Emil Riis curled in a shot that was denied by Sunderland's replacement keeper Simon Moore.

"It's a point but it should have been three. I'm pleased with the level of the performance again. That has been our minimum as we have been performing really well," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We had some really good chances first half and could have made the game really comfortable."

Preston have come away with points from six of their past seven league games (two wins, four draws) to carry them out of the bottom three and into 20th place on the Championship table.

"While we are picking up points these last few games, we know we could have had a hell of a lot more," Heckingbottom added.

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Sunderland are looking to return to winning ways when they visit Preston on Wednesday night following a 0-0 draw at QPR at the weekend. The Black Cats are top of the Championship and unbeaten in six games (W4, D2).

Meanwhile, the Lilywhites are without a win in three (D2, L1) and are just two points above the relegation zone before the midweek Championship fixtures.

• Preston North End have lost two of their past three league games against Sunderland (W1), as many as in their previous 14 meetings (W6, D6, L2).

• Sunderland have lost three of their past five league visits to Deepdale (W1, D1), including a 2-1 defeat in August 2023.

• At Deepdale, Preston are unbeaten in their past 21 league games in midweek (W10, D11) - only Manchester City are enjoying a longer ongoing such run in the top four tiers of English football (49 games unbeaten).

• Sunderland have won both their midweek league games so far this season and could win three in a row for the first time since February 2023.

• Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom is unbeaten in five previous encounters with Sunderland in the EFL (W4, D1). Only against Birmingham (P6, W4, D2) has he faced a side more often without losing.