Preston North End's loan goalkeeper Daniel Iversen has Premier League ambitions

Deepdale is the fourth port of call for the Leicester City keeper in terms of a loan, following spells with Oldham Athletic, Rotherham United and Belgian club O-H Leuven.

Iversen made his North End debut in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Bristol City and will be in action again on Wednesday night against Birmingham City at St Andrew’s (7.45pm).

The Denmark Under-21s international had just come back from his time with Leuven when PNE came calling for his services.

When Declan Rudd was injured in training in the first week of January, North End were straight on the phone to Leicester to arrange a loan for the rest of the season.

He was a keeper who the Lilywhites knew plenty about having scouted him during his previous loans.

What helped too was that PNE goalkeeping coach Mike Pollitt had worked with Iversen at Rotherham.

The pair had kept in contact since then and that smoothed the process.

Iversen said: “Polly knew me really well and I knew him really well.

“It is always good when you know how someone works, it was easy for me to come in and do his sessions.

“I had talked with Polly since he left Rotherham, not especially about this club but about football and things in general. So when the opportunity came to join Preston on loan, it moved very quickly.

“It’s exciting to come to the Championship because I’ve not played in this league before.

“You always want to step up as you go along, go from League Two to League One, to the Championship and hopefully the Premier League.

“It is difficult to do that, football doesn’t always work that way.

“But with each loan move I’ve stepped up and I’m really happy to be with Preston in the Championship.”

Iversen is highly rated at Leicester, enough to have signed a five-and-a-half year contract with the Foxes last season.

At the moment it is all about learning his craft away from the King Power Stadium, bearing in mind the keepers in front of him there.

His fellow Dane Kasper Schmeichel is first choice at Leicester, backed up by Danny Ward – a £12.5m buy from Liverpool in July 2018.

North End have a decent track record with keepers they have taken on loan in recent years.

Rudd started off here on loan, coming for two spells from Norwich City.

Sam Johnstone and Jordan Pickford served PNE so well in their time with the club.

Iversen’s two previous spells in the EFL provided him with plenty of first-team action.

He made 49 appearances for Oldham in the 2018/19 campaign.

Last season Iversen went to Rotherham and played 38 games, helping the Millers to promotion from League One.

His time at Leuven – who have the same owners as Leicester – did not go quite as well in comparison.

He played five games in the Belgium top flight before injury got in the way.

Iversen said: “It was a good club to be fair and an exciting opportunity for me.

“I played the first five games of the season and then got a little injury unfortunately.

“I sat out for the next three weeks, the other goalkeeper came in and took his chance by playing really well. The team didn’t lose so when I came back from the injury I was on the bench.

“It would be difficult for any player to come back into a team when they are winning and are top of the league.

“With not playing games, I decided to come back to England and try and find a club to join on loan.

“Hopefully I can play a lot of games at Preston and get a lot of confidence.”

It was disappointing for Iversen to finish on the losing side on his North End debut as Ashton Gate.

He had to fish the ball out of the back of his net after just eight minutes when Famara Diedhiou met a corner with a powerful header.

Later in the game, he was beaten by Zak Vyner’s shot which flew off the Bristol City player’s shin and into the top corner.

Said I: “It was good to make my debut and to play but the result wasn’t what we wanted – it would have been far better to get three points.

“As a player, the first couple of games at a new club can be a bit difficult because you are getting used to your new team-mates.

“But with time on the training ground and more games together, it will be a lot better.

“Hopefully we can go to Birmingham and get three points – it’s a game I’m looking forward to.”

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here