Ex-Liverpool man must ‘take all the credit’ for working to earn Preston North End debut

Preston North End striker Layton Stewart still has big challenges ahead in manager Ryan Lowe’s eyes, but the striker has been praised for earning his Lilywhites debut.

Stewart came off the bench late on in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Rotherham United, with PNE pushing for a winning goal at the New York Stadium. North End snapped the 21-year-old up on a three-year deal this summer, from Liverpool; Preston’s plan to develop their own centre-forward after success in the loan market with Cameron Archer and Tom Cannon.

The number 17 featured sporadically in pre-season and was then put on an individual training programme, with North End wanting to build up his physique in order to cope with Championship football. Stewart has now made sufficient progress and Lowe is confident in the striker’s finishing ability, but knows there will be tough tests to come.

“He needs to take a lot of credit really,” said Lowe. “Because he came in and found it tough, playing in a big man’s league if you like. He came into a dressing room full of senior pros, who’ve been there, seen it and done it. It was probably an eye opener for him - the way the lads work on a daily basis. He had a little bit of a setback, when we had to build him up.

“But, he has to take all the credit now because he’s the one who has got himself right. He is the first in and last out, along with many of the other lads. And he is doing the work off the field now, which is important for him to get bigger and stronger. We want that to continue, but as I’ve said many times it is not going to be easy for him.

“He is going to come up against man mountains at some point and he’s going to come up against a brick wall at some point. But, one thing about Layton is that if you put him anywhere in and around the 18-yard-box I would fancy him to hit the target. I’d fancy him to score most times, but 100 per cent hit the target and make the ‘keeper work. That is the quality he has got.”