Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe has explained why Liverpool loanee Calvin Ramsay has seen such little game time.

The Scottish full-back arrived at Liverpool with high hopes and a £6.5m fee on his head in the summer of 2022, though a first season at Anfield was curtailed by injury early on.

Aiming to set his progression back on track, a loan deal with Preston was agreed ahead of the current campaign, but again a fresh injury hampered his season before it even began. It was followed by a bout of Covid-19 as Ramsay’s poor fortune was compounded heading into the festive period.

It means as things stand, the 20-year-old has only made two appearances since his move to Deepdale, which is a measly total considering he only made that many for Jurgen Klopp’s team in the entirety of last season.

However, Lowe has now confessed that it is not explicitly the defender and his woes that are the cause of his lack of minutes on-field. That would come down to what the manager believes is best for the Championship play-off chasing team.

“‘He [Ramsay] is available. He’s just out of the squad at the moment, because he had Covid. He’s fit and training every day, but I have got to look for players who I feel can help – coming off the bench,” Lowe told the Lancashire Evening Post.