PNE in Numbers: New boy Louis Moult's goalscoring development

He may not be able to play until the FA Cup trip to Wycombe in the new year but Louis Moult is certainly the name on the lips of every Preston fan at the moment.
Louis Moult celebrates his second goal in the Scottish League Cup semi-final.Louis Moult celebrates his second goal in the Scottish League Cup semi-final.
Louis Moult celebrates his second goal in the Scottish League Cup semi-final.

Thursday’s announcement that he was swapping Motherwell for Deepdale had been coming but it was still one that seemed to excite the fanbase at large.

The 25-year-old is after all a striker who scores goals, plenty of them over the last few years.

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His journey to the Championship has been a far from straightforward one though.

Stoke-born, he was prolific for his hometown club’s academy and reserve sides as he came through the ranks at the Britannia Stadium.

His senior debut came in a 1-0 Carling Cup win at Leyton Orient back in August 2009, replacing Tom Soares in the 62nd minute.

Moult’s one and only Premier League appearance came as an 85th-minute replacement for Tuncay in a 1-1 draw at Burnley on March 10 2010.

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After that brief taste, it was time for Moult to learn his trade in a series of loan spells and truth to told, there was little sign of the impressive goalscoring record that was to come.

First up was Bradford with 15 games and just one goal for the then League Two side following.

At the end of that 2010-2011 season came three games for Mansfield in the top tier of non-league Moult scoring twice on his debut, a 3-3 draw with Newport.

2011-2012 saw seven games at Accrington, Mansfield and Alfreton with no goals, his Stoke release coming at the end of the season.

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Northampton Town was the second permanent destination of his career but after a disappointing half-season yielding two goals and a red card in 17 appearances, Moult was heading back to non-league on loan, this time with Nuneaton.

Moult scored just the once in 17 games, in the penultimate match of the Conference Premier season against Hyde, but he had done enough for manager Kevin Wilkin to make the move permanent.

Things were coming together, nine goals following in the first 10 games of the 2013-14 campaign.

Moult would end the season with 17, bagging a final-day hat-trick against Dartford.

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He then followed Wilkin to Wrexham and a single season in Wales which brought 16 goals was enough for Motherwell to take the plunge.

It’s certainly proved to be an excellent marriage, Moult heading back to English football with 50 goals from 98 games, 18 in each of his two full seasons with the club and 14 already this time around.