What Preston North End's boss made of Callum Lang's full debut following 'club record' move from Portsmouth
He made his third appearance for the Lilywhites on Tuesday evening
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom liked what he saw from Callum Lang on full debut.
Following his ‘club record’ move from Portsmouth on transfer deadline day, the 27-year-old was given the nod for his first PNE start. Lang, making his third appearance for the Lilywhites, provided his second assist. His aggression, to latch on to Andrija Vukcevic’s low cross, set up Daniel Jebbison to slot home the first half opener.
North End’s pursuit of Lang went right down to the wire, with a deal finally agreed on the final day of the window. Heckingbottom has spoken about wanting Lang to play his natural, all action game in the final third for Preston. That was certainly the case in south Wales and PNE’s boss reflected fondly on his performance.
Speaking post-match, he said: “I thought he was excellent. Sharp with his hold up play. Back to the goal... for the real good passage of play it is, and how incisive it is, without Callum's desire and aggression in the opposition's box to win that ball, we don't score.
“That will never change in football. You've got to have a desire to win and compete and Callum has got that. But, you can see he's a good footballer as well, and looks after the ball well.”