Graham Potter today said Dale Stephens "is still our player" as he makes plans for the Carabao Cup tie at Preston.

The midfielder has been subject of a bid from Burnley.

It is unclear whether he will be involved at Deepdale in the thrid-round tie although he is fit and, as things stand, available.

Head coach Potter said this afternoon: "I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been out training this morning. He’s still our player."

Potter was non-committal about possible transfer activity - including incomings.

He added: "There’s lot of speculation. Agents are mixing things around.

"At this time of year that is how it is. Nothing to say on that."

Christian Walton is still out as the only reported injury absentee for the tie.

Potter will name a team similar to that which beat Portsmouth last week and expects a tougher test against Alex Neil's side.

In his media conference today, Potter said: “We will have a strong team and a team that hopefully wins the game.

“We are playing against a good team. I know Alex’s teams well.

“We played against him at Swansea and I’ve got respect for him.

“He gets his teams organised really well. They are aggressive, they play on the front foot, play really good football, strong, physical.

"They will be a good test for us."