Burnley manager Scott Parker says he needs to “think hard” about whether to play midfielder Hannibal Mejbri in Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at rivals Preston North End, with a racism allegation overshadowing the fixture.
Less than two weeks ago, Hannibal accused Preston forward Milutin Osmajic of racially abusing him during a goalless Championship draw between the two sides.
Preston said Montenegro international Osmajic “strongly refuted” the claims.
The Football Association investigation is not expected to be concluded before Saturday’s fixture, meaning both players could feature in the Lancashire derby at Deepdale.
“It is tough and one which I need to think hard and long on,” Parker said in his pre-match news conference on Thursday.
“Fundamentally I want to protect Hannibal, but then why should he miss out? That is a decision I will have to make.
“I will make the best decision that feels right for Hannibal, explaining the situation and seeing where he is comfortable. I will have those conversations on Friday morning.”
Meanwhile, Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom suggested he had not considered the idea of leaving Osmajic out and, when asked whether he was taking an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ approach, Heckingbottom replied “Yes, exactly, 100%”.
The Preston boss added: “My problem with what happened, and a lot of the fallout and people’s comments after the game, it belittles a serious incident from both sides about what has been said.
“Scott [Parker] spoke really well in front of some poor questioning. Agendas and people not understanding the situation, but it is a game of football for us now, that situation has been and gone past and people are dealing with it.”
The FA is still investigating the incident, with interviews to be conducted with both players, several club staff and any witnesses. If found guilty, Osmajic faces a minimum ban of six games.
Burnley will have the whole 5,600 allocation of the Kop stand behind one goal at Deepdale, however ticket sales for home fans appear to be slow, with thousands of seats still available when checked by BBC Sport on Thursday.
The fixture two weeks ago was live on Sky but played in front of almost 20,000 supporters in the 23,400-capacity ground.
Saturday’s match will be broadcast live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.
After a report of racism from “within the crowd” at the previous game, Lancashire Police said they will carry out “a full risk assessment” with the “appropriate policing plan put in place”, as they do with all other fixtures.
