Sheffield United supporters will have to wait a couple more weeks before they see the return of former Preston North End midfielder into the starting line-up.
The Blades face his former club Preston today in the SkyBet Championship (kick-off: 3:00pm) at Bramall Lane, and the Red and White Wizards will be looking to returning to winning ways after a run of two games without victory.
Last weekend’s loss at Bristol City was overshadowed by the poor performance in midweek which saw the Blades draw 0-0 at home to Birmingham City. The result saw United slip down into sixth place in the league table
Paul Coutts won’t quite be in contention for a return to the matchday squad but there is promising news after the midfielder scored in last night’s Under-23’s victory at Sheffield Wednesday. At Hillsborough, the Blades won 3-1 with all the goals coming in the first half. Coutts opened the scoring and was followed by Oliver Graves and Martin Cranie as United took a three goal lead. Wednesday scored with only a few minutes remaining of the first half.
Blades boss Chris Wilder may make changes ahead of today’s fixture, having rotated the squad for the last two outings. This puts the likes of Kieron Freeman, Enda Stevens, Daniel Lafferty, John Lundstram, David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp all within contention of starting.
They are still without defender Jake Wright (back injury) and isn’t likely to return until next month.
Struggling Preston remain in the relegation zone having failed to win in the league since the opening day of the season at home to QPR.
The Lilywhites will be without Ben Pearson who serves the last of a three-game ban but Ryan Ledson returns following the completion of his suspension after his sending off in the League Cup victory over Leeds.
They are also without striker Billy Bodin (knee), Callum Woods and Sean Maguire (both hamstring), but midfielder Alan Browne (hip) could be in contention after his injury doesn’t look too serious.