Preston striker could miss Bristol City game if 'lengthy' ban imposed retrospectively for alleged bite against Blackburn

And that could see the Montenegro international sit out the Lilywhites’ game with Bristol City, with the Robins due to travel to Deepdale on Saturday, November 2.

Footage of the controversial incident, which came immediately after Beck was sent off for an 89th-minute challenge on Duane Holmes, shows Osmajic approaching the Rovers left-back and shoving his head into the 22-year-old’s neck.

It remains unclear whether PNE’s club record-signing actually bites his opponent. But speaking after the game, Blackburn boss John Eustace said Beck had a ‘big bite mark’ as he  labelled it as a ‘very serious’ incident. 

On Monday morning, the FA said they were ‘aware of this incident and will be looking into it’.

No doubt, they’ll conduct a thorough review of the matter before making a conclusion, with Osmajic receiving a yellow card from match official Matt Donohue at the time.

But according to former Premier League referee Dermott Gallagher, a retrospective 10-man ban could be imposed if the forward is found guilty - a punishment that was handed to former Liverpool striker Luiz Suarez after he was adjudged to have bitten Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.

And that means Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom being without the striker for the visit of the Robins in six weeks time.

Speaking on Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch,  Gallagherssaid: ‘I think the fact the FA are looking at it tells you everything.

‘They’ll look at it, study all the videos, speak to the players and that’s all I can say really.

‘You see him (Osmajic) go towards him (Beck), you don’t actually see him biting, but the young lad said he does.

‘He’ll get a lengthy ban, if found guilty, that’s what it’s all about.

‘Suarez got 10 matches, but they’ll have to prove that he’s done it. The lad’s probably had photographs taken of his bite mark, if you like

‘They’ll have studied the videos. If you’re looking at that video, at the moment, the referee and the assistant are convinced he’s adopting an aggressive attitude, that’s why he’s got a yellow card.

‘They haven’t seen him being bitten, so they can’t take any action over that.

‘Certainly, the FA can do that later.’

Bristol City are currently three points and eight places better off than fourth-from-bottom Preston in the Championship table.

Sunday’s Lancashire derby ended in a 0-0 draw, with both sides finishing the game with 10 men. The Robins beat Liam Manning’s former club, Oxford United, 2-1 on Saturday for only their second win of the season.