Legend David Nugent rues close call with Premier League at Preston North End but still watches his old goals back!

Nugent became a cult hero in Preston for his exploits predominantly in a two-and-a-half-year spell in PR1 from 2005 to 2007.

He joined the club as a raw 20-year-old and was quickly in the goals, netting eight league goals between his January arrival and the end of the 2004/05 season, where North End missed out on promotion in a play-off final defeat to West Ham United.

He went on to score 33 goals in 107 games for PNE before a £6m move to Premier League Portsmouth.

Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Nugent said: "I loved every minute of it. I was unknown coming in from Bury for about £90,000 back in the day. I was just a young lad brimming with confidence and wanted to play football.

“That was my game, I had the pace to go in behind and go past defenders and I felt I was an important player after the first couple of games.

"It worked out for the two-and-a-half years I was there, we nearly got promoted twice.

"We got beat in the final by West Ham and then the second year beaten in the play-offs by Leeds United.

"We had a strong squad but as Preston do they seem to sell their best players and not really replace them. Under Billy Davies I thought the squad that we had was sensational.

"We beat West Ham twice in the league in 2004/05 so when we got to the final we were thinking why can't we do it again? I don't know if the occasion got to us, it was still a special day but we came out on the wrong end of it.”

Nugent’s goalscoring is still a strong feature for any Lilywhites fan reminiscing on their time watching their team, the 37-year-old now boasting an impressive highlight reel.

What is there to do when you’ve scored some great goals? Watch them back, of course.

He said: "I always go on YouTube and watch videos of my goals that I scored, just to remind myself!

"My daughter is getting into football now as well, she's eight and she's on at me saying daddy show me your goals. I'm like, go on then!

"Most of my goals from my early career are from Preston so when I show Rose, my daughter, she says she wants to be a striker too.

"It is nice being able to show your kids what you can do. I remember all of my goals, some of the goals I scored at Preston were decent goals.

"I always remember the free kick against Burnley where Graham Alexander chipped it over the wall and I volleyed it into the roof of the net, the Crystal Palace goal in the FA Cup away, where I basically sprinted from the halfway line, took on about five players and put it in the top bin.

"I remember all of the big occasions and as a striker you don't forget your goals, but it was the team around me that made me the player I was. I owe most of it to the players who were giving me the ball.”