Paul Heckingbottom confirms Preston North End free agent stance after transfer window close

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom does not expect to dip into the free agent market.

The Lilywhites boss made his first signing at Deepdale, on transfer deadline day, as Josh Bowler was snapped up from Nottingham Forest. PNE had already recruited Jeppe Okkels and Stefan Thordarson on permanent deals, while Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Sam Greenwood came through the door on loan from Aston Villa and Leeds United, respectively.

Preston didn’t add in central defence - something Heckingbottom implied he would’ve looked to do if possible. The summer transfer window closed on Friday, 30 August and North End subsequently named a 24-man squad to take them through to January. Despite having one space left free, PNE’s manager isn’t targeting anyone on a free transfer.

“Not really, no,” said Heckingbottom. “The money has gone. It was important to try and get one in. If something drastic happened, then it’s a conversation we’d need to have. But no, we are busy working with the players we’ve got. There are still lots of players we’ve not seen enough of.

“We have been really pleased with how they’ve trained, these last two weeks. There are still one or two, whether they’ve been injured, injured and gone away - like Ali (McCann) - I’ve still not had a lot of time on the grass with them, to get to know each other. Also, then get working and give them minutes.

“Our priority, I think, while winning games is to work with these players and give them opportunities, over the next few games, to learn about us and us learn about them. It’s important that we know what is in the building first, because it will be different messages and a different feel. Obviously, you want it to be that way. You then just see how people respond.”