Peter Ridsdale confirms Rob Kelly situation after brief Preston North End return

Preston North End director Peter Ridsdale has confirmed that coach Rob Kelly is not on the club's payroll anymore.

Appointed for a second coaching stint at Deepdale back in July, Kelly's departure was confirmed only a few weeks later due to 'some personal health issues'. Manager Ryan Lowe worked with Kelly during his time at Bury and wished him well following the news in August.

Three months have passed since the update regarding Kelly and Ridsdale has now clarified where things stand on the ex-Wigan Athletic and Leeds United coach. The 58-year-old is not on Preston's books and Ridsdale does not envisage a return for Kelly anytime soon.

"No, I think there is some misunderstanding," said Ridsdale. "Rob isn't on our payroll anymore; when he got his health problems, he asked to be released from his contract. We didn't want to say much at the time, because it was for health issues. We are still in touch with him, but he's not actually employed by the club anymore.

"We are in regular contact and in fact, I was at Wembley last Friday and somebody came up to me to say they'd been speaking to him only last week - and how complimentary he was as to how we'd handled his situation, both as a human being but also what we did with his contract. So, Rob still has our very best wishes and let's see what happens. But, I don't think he will be returning to first team, football coaching in the immediate future, anywhere."