Jay’s made right choice: Jayden Stockley pleased to have made Deepdale switch

The powerful striker had a few clubs chasing him when he decided to leave League Two side Exeter in January.

He chose North End who had matched a release clause in his contract, making the £750,000 move to Deepdale.

More than five months on and now getting a break with the season over, Stockley looks back on the first-half of 2019 with much satisfaction.

“Coming to Preston was the right move for me,” Stockley told the Post.

“I had a few choices of clubs in January but this one felt right at the time and that has turned out to be the case.

“The gaffer was a big part of that and him since signing his new contract was a boost for everyone here.

“When you move clubs there are many things that you have to consider.

“I’ve got a family so it had to be right for them. Between my family, myself and my agent, we came to the right decision.

“It was nice to have a few choices, it showed that what I had been doing at Exeter had impressed some people.”

Stockley, 25, finished the season with 20 goals to his name.

Sixteen of those came in an Exeter shirt but he’s already proved he knows where the net is at Championship level.

Getting off the mark in only his second appearance was a big help to him.

Stockley said: “We’ve been finished a couple of weeks now and I can look back on a good season all round.

“It was good to get 20 goals and I played a lot of games for the two clubs.

“Scoring for Preston away at Queens Park Rangers was a really big thing.

“I didn’t want to go for weeks searching for my first goal and having that playing on my mind.

“The goal relaxed me in many ways and helped when it came to settling in. I don’t normally score the sort of goal I did at QPR and I’d like to get a few more from a bit further out.

“On that occasion the ball fell for me nicely and it just seemed right to hit it.

“If I’d missed I would have had Alan Browne shouting at me because he was waiting for me to square the ball to him. So to see it go in was a good feeling and it was a great win for us that day. I had my family there so that is a game I look back on with great memories.

“The QPR game was at the start of the spell when we did ever so well. Twelve games unbeaten, six away wins on the bounce, that was some going.

“Then the international break came and we tailed off.

“That was disappointing because it overshadowed some of the good things.”