'With great pleasure, I rang him' - England U19 call up for Kian Best delights Ryan Lowe

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe was delighted to be given the opportunity to inform Kian Best of his England under-19 call-up.

This season has seen Best come straight out of North End's academy and on to the first team stage, with him making nine appearances so far. Best was given the nod on the opening day at Bristol City and has returned to the side in recent weeks. He has operated at left wing-back, left back and left centre-back under Ryan Lowe - who highlighted the huge potential of Best after the Sky Blues victory.

And the teenager's season got even better last week, when he was asked to go away with the young Lions for their three match week in Spain. England U19s will take on Romania, Japan and Mexico in Marbella. Preston's boss believes it is a major positive for all parties at Deepdale - and hopes to see Best excel on the international stage.

"Amazing, yeah," said Lowe. "Brilliant. I got the call off the manager and he said he'd like me to tell him. With great pleasure, I rang him and said: 'Are you sitting down?' He said: 'Yeah' and I said: 'Are your mum and dad there?'. He said: 'No...' - so I rang him, and then I rang his dad to ask if he'd told him. He said: 'No, he's probably phoned his mum first!"

"But listen, he deserves that. He's been on standby for the past few international breaks and hasn't quite got in there. But, the performances he puts in and his attitude - I've sort of had to tame him a little bit by saying to take the emotion out of being a PNE fan, and play with pride and passion. Sometimes, if you've got emotion it can affect you - because you are from the area and you're playing for your hometown football club. I'm really pleased for him and it's well deserved."