Town boss Joe Royle has no new injury worries ahead of Saturday's visit to Preston North End. The Blues still have a lengthy casualty list, however it is showing signs of improving.

Loan midfielder Alan Mahon will continue to miss out with the hamstring injury picked up against Burnley and will remain on the sidelines for three to four weeks.

Full-back Chris Makin, a scan last week showed his groin muscle has healed and he is working on strengthening before returning to training over the next few weeks.

Dutch midfielder Martijn Reuser trained today but is still a few weeks away from first team action, although he will be involved in the reserves at Watford next week.

Centre-half Drissa Diallo has had a slight setback on his return from a knee injury and is 10 days away from full training.

Better news is that John McGreal came through the reserves match against Derby without a problem and could be in contention for the game against Gillingham which both Richard Naylor and Chris Bart-Williams will miss due to suspension. He'll play in the reserves again next Wednesday against Watford.

Young defender Aidan Collins, who signed a three-year contract with Town earlier in the week, sprained ankle ligaments recently and will be back in training next week.

Darren Bent's knee ligament strain needs rest and he'll be back in training in the next couple of weeks and may get a reserves run-out at Watford.

Royle was pleased that West Ham and Nottingham Forest drew on Wednesday night even though it meant Town dropped to sixth in Division One: “I was delighted with the draw. I think in the bigger picture we want everybody to draw.

“I was pleased to see them take points off each other. You can see the value of wins rather than wins and draws. The old maxim from when it was two points for a win that a draw was good doesn't hold up these days. A draw is not great now and a draw wasn't great for either of those two.”

The Town boss is pleased with the spirit in his squad which was so evident at Selhurst Park on Tuesday: “I took heart from the other night. I was delighted with the points but to come back from two goals down away from home shows great spirit.

“And then to go on to get the winner after we'd been pegged back to 3-3 showed great spirit again, and the celebrations were fantastic, I loved the scrum-down. It was great to see.”

Royle knows Preston boss Craig Brown well having spent time with him at the World Cup in Japan in 2002 when they were both working as pundits. He feels that Brown has assembled a decent side: “They are one of the better teams in the division. They've been on a good run aside from a couple of recent setbacks and Ricardo Fuller is one of the top strikers in the division.

“I've said all along that it's about us and whilst we're playing like we are it is about us. I thought in the second half the other night we were excellent and close to what we can be. We kept the ball having weathered the storm early on.”

The loan ranks at Portman Road are unlikely to be swelled in the near future with Royle pleased with Ian Westlake's contribution at Palace: “No one will be coming in or out at the moment. I took great pains to say that I wanted to see how Westy played the other night but that it wasn't a one game trial. It was to see how he and Richards worked together along the left.

“I thought by the end of the game they'd done so well Palace had brought a full-back on and got the winger out the way. The pair of them had a great hand in the third goal and there will be no fitter pair than those two, so I think Westy deserves his chance at the moment.”

Royle felt Tommy Miller did well against the Eagles despite the careless challenge which gave away the penalty: “He redeemed himself with a great pass and we were well pleased for Tommy. Jim Magilton did tell him he was lucky as he was going to strangle him if we hadn't won.”

For Preston Tyrone Mears has a sore hamstring but is the only injury concern for Craig Brown.

George Koumantarakis and Lee Briscoe are back in training after spells out while suspensions for Marlon Broomes and Ricardo Fuller don't come into effect until after the Town game.

Saturday's referee is Premiership man Dermot Gallagher from Banbury. He last officiated Town in the Worthington Cup tie at Liverpool when he awarded the home side a disputed penalty. So far this season he has shown 27 yellow cards in just six matches, also showing two red cards.

Likely squad: Davis, Price, Wilnis, Richards, Santos, Naylor, Nash, Magilton, Wright, Bart-Williams, Westlake, Miller, Couñago, Kuqi, Armstrong and Bowditch.

Photo: Action Images

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