The Canada international missed last weekend’s win over Portsmouth
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom says Daniel Jebbison must build his robustness back up.
The AFC Bournemouth loan man was a stand out performer in the Lilywhites’ recent 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town. However, after that impressive showing, the Canadian missed last weekend’s 1-0 home win over Portsmouth.
It is the eighth game Jebbison has been absent for in the league this season, though one of those was down to illness. On the whole, his impact for PNE has been a positive one with five goals scored and two assists provided from 23 outings.
Jebbison, whenever speaking to the media, has hailed the impact of Heckingbottom as a manager, coach and mentor. The pair worked together at Sheffield United and North End’s boss pulled no punches when asked about the striker’s latest frustration.
“Yeah, he's got to get robust again,” Heckingbottom told the Lancashire Post. “Listen, it's not a dig at him, but he knows the importance of being on the training pitch, training every day and being resilient. The Jebbo I work with, he’d eat the physical games up and one of his attributes is his physicality.
“He can hit top numbers, high-speed running. He can hit top numbers in terms of distance... he can do a lot. He's got to try and do it now, week on week on week on week. When he was 17-years-old and I had him before, he was doing it because of how hard we trained. He's not had the minutes, games-wise, over this period of time.
“I don't know how hard people have been pushing him training-wise. So, he's capable of doing it 100%. My frustration is it’ll be another one where we get him to that level again at the end of the season and then he disappears, but he knows the importance of it.”
When asked what Jebbison can actually do, Heckingbottom said: “Stay fit and train. Little niggles being picked up. So, what we can do is make sure we look after him more. As much as you want him for 90 minutes... is he ready to do 90 minutes Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday?
“The evidence says not. It doesn't mean he can't impact us but over time he's got to realise the importance of staying fit. Whether it’s a knock, stay on the training pitch, make sure you're developing that resilience and becoming physically robust to meet the demands of what the leagues are.”
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