Double injury blow for former Portsmouth favourite Callum Lang as forward ruled out of Preston North End games

Callum Lang’s season is set to be disrupted again because of injury - even though he’s no longer at Pompey.

The former Fratton favourite has endured a frustrating 12 months on that front which has limited him to just 16 competitive appearances since February 2025.

Five of those outings have been for new club Preston North End, whom the 27-year-old joined for a ‘club record’ Lilywhites fee on the final day of the January transfer window.

However, Lang will have to wait to build on that tally until after the forthcoming international break at the earliest, after suffering a double injury blow during his last appearance for PNE.

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Lang suffers another hamstring injury

Lang, who scored 16 goals in 53 appearances for the Blues, took a whack on his ankle in North End’s defeat to Oxford United last Friday night.

It forced the unfortunate Liverpudlian off just before half-time. But it has since emerged that the forward also suffered a hamstring problem at the same time, which is his fourth such issue over the past year.

The recurrance forced Lang to sit out 30 Blues fixtures, with the former Wigan man requiring sugery last August to rectify the problem.

There’s no suggestion at this moment the player will miss another huge chuck of the season. However, given Lang’s history of hamstring injuries, North End boss Paul Heckingbottom knows the Deepdale side will need to carefully manage his return.

If he hadn’t have suffered that whack, he’d still be fine

Speaking ahead of PNE’s game against Coventry on Wednesday night, Heckingbottom told the LEP: ‘Yeah, Callum's out. Everyone saw him take that whack at the weekend but in those mechanics, when he went to push off again, he strained his hamstring as well.

‘Nothing serious. But, yeah, he wouldn't have been fit either way (for the Coventry game). So, we’re looking at after the international break (for a return date). I think the next few games, he'll still be too sore. Or, if we're thinking about it, his history and that, it'll be too risky.

‘So I would’ve thought it'll be after the international break. It's those things when you've been out a while, I think you tend to get a little bit of bad luck. If he hadn't have suffered that whack, he'd still be fine.

‘We would have preferred him to be fit to keep getting those training minutes and game time into him, build up that robustness.

‘It's obviously a big blow for us and it will be really frustrating for him. Just to stress, nothing major... but I'm better telling you guys the truth because he could come back after the break and it might be his hamstring keeping him out and not his ankle.

‘The tackle, I've not seen it back but the mechanics of the tackle, he's gone to push, loaded all one leg, gone to push to recover and just felt that at the same time. So, one of those things for him.’

North End, who have not won any of the five games Lang has been involved in, have three games before this month’s international break (March 23-31) , against Coventry (A), Norwich (A) and Stoke (H) respectively.

They then play host to Leicester at Deepdale on Friday, April 3.

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