NIGEL Clough is waiting on a medical report on striker Jamie Ward to see how long the player will be out of action following a broken wrist.
Ward has had an operation and is hoping to be back on the pitch sooner rather than later by wearing a cast.
Clough said: “We are in the hands of the medical people and the surgeon who did the operation. He’s certainly not available for Preston. He will then get his cast fitted and we will see how comfortable he is from there. He will have to have an x-ray or scan and see that it is healing before we put him out there again.”
Ward and Kyle McFadzean (suspended) are the only two players expected to be out when the Brewers travel to Preston.
Clough said: “They have been two of our better players so we have missed them but we have to manage without them for however long.
“The defeat at Reading highlights how much we do miss Kyle. That’s not a reflection on the other lads but Kyle’s level of performances have been extremely good this season and we need to get him back available. But if we keep a couple of clean sheets he might find it difficult to get back in.
“Wardy is the most likely player to get us a goal. We still had more shots than Reading on Saturday and need someone to put them away.”
The squad has been hit by a sickness bug this week but Clough expects his players to shake off the ill effects in time for Saturday.