Preston set to miss out again as Mansfield Town head for Tranmere

Preston suffered a midweek setback from the concussion suffered at Yeovil the weekend before when he clashed heads with skipper Krystian Pearce as he headed home a goal.

Boss David Flitcroft said: “Matty just had a little turn.

“After we had trained I got a phone call on Thursday night to say he’d gone to A&E with a reaction to the whack he got at the weekend when scoring the goal.

“There is an FA guideline and we are working towards that.

“I spoke to him on Friday night and he’s not really eaten anything. He couldn’t keep anything down. We we’ve not got to rebuild him, get hydration, nutrition and the right food into him so he is physically prepared to come back in.

“He is gutted he couldn’t play against Colchester. He did everything he could but now just has to get himself right before he comes back in the building.

“He has been our stand-out performer since he signed for the club, but we will guide him back to full health.”

Stags dropped two late points with some sloppy stoppage time defending in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Colchester. But, apart from that lapse, Flitcroft said there was plenty to be happy with.

“I want more of the same tonight,” he said. “We must make sure the press quality is high and when we get an opportunity to hurt a team we have to take that opportunity.

“I don’t think the players can work any harder than they did on Saturday – they put in a right shift.”

He added: “We will have a body count and make sure our recovery strategies are good.

“The lads that didn’t play against Colchester are trying to catch up with their running distances to make they are ready for Tuesday.

“We must make sure all the players, from a well being point of view, physically and mentally, know our next hurdle is Tranmere.

“We have to pick the lads up and make sure they know why we haven’t won this game – not dwelling on it, just learning from it. Then we can kick on for Tuesday.

“We don’t want to unravel the good work that was done on Saturday. We must make sure we show the players positives from the Colchester game.

“We are not the finished article – nowhere near. The team is still developing.”

Tranmere came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 on their first game back in the Football League at Stevenage.

A 1-0 home win over Bury followed. But after a 3-1 midweek Carabao Cup exit to Walsall, Rovers saw a 2-0 lead evaporate at Swindon on Saturday after Jay Harris was sent off and the Robins won 3-2.

Harris will miss the Mansfield game tomorrow. But Rovers have re-signed winger Dylan Mottley-Henry on loan from League One side Barnsley until January.