Centre-half Jordan Storey targets a regular spot in Preston North End first team

Storey was PNE’s young player of the year in 2018/19 but spent much of last season watching from the sidelines.

However, a run in the team at the end of the campaign saw him give a reminder of his undoubted ability.

On Tuesday, Storey and Ben Davies were rock solid at the heart of the defence in a 0-0 pre-season friendly against Burnley at Deepdale.

Storey, who celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday, will get another Premier League test in the coming days, with PNE facing Sheffield United tomorrow and Everton on Saturday – the squad will be divided in two for those.

Assessing last season from a personal point of view, Storey told the Lancashire Post: “It was disappointing in terms of the start and mid-point of the season.

“In the latter stages things went a lot better for me. I thought I might play one or two games, so to play five was really good.

“I felt I did well in those games and it would be nice to start this season or at least be in or around it.

“I think this season is a big one for me, I want to play as many games as I can.

“Ideally I’d want things to go as they did in my first season here when I played in quite a lot of games.

“It’s always disappointing when you are sat in the stand or on the bench.

“I’m 23 now, I’m not a kid, I want to be playing as much as I can.”

Storey is pleased with how his pre-season has gone so far, the squad having been back for three weeks after a shortened summer break.

“We were all still pretty fit when we came back because the break was only for three weeks and you don’t lose much in that time,” said Storey.

“As a squad we had a good strong first week which set the mark for the rest of pre-season.

“The games have gone well so far, I thought it was a great work-out against Burnley, a good test for us.

“As defenders, we were up against Jay Rodriguez and Chris Wood who are both experienced lads around the Premier League and Championship.

“Myself and Ben Davies had to be on our ‘A’ game.

“We were solid, hard to break down, we squeezed the line well and compacted the middle of the pitch.

“A clean sheet was one of the many positives to take from the game.

“Every game you play gives you that extra bit of fitness and sharpness and we play two more Premier League teams over the next couple of days.

“They are games we can look forward to and test ourselves in.”