Preston North End forward Graham Burke joins Gillingham on loan

The Irishman signed for North End from Shamrock Rovers last summer but has found first-team opportunities hard to come by at Deepdale.

He's made eight starts and seven appearances from the bench, scoring twice - against Stoke City in the Championship and Morecambe in the Carabao Cup.

After a lengthy spell out of the squad, Burke was involved a lot more in December and early January when injuries hit the squad hard.

He came off the bench in four successive games and then made four starts on the bounce against Hull City, Aston Villa, Rotherham United and Doncaster Rovers.

But he has not made the matchday squad for the last three matches.

Burke, 25, started his career at Aston Villa before having a spell at Notts County.

He returned to home city Dublin to play for Shamrock Rovers in 2017 and his move there kick-started his career.

North End made their move for him in June after his goalscoring from with Shamrock Rovers led to him winning his first Republic of Ireland cap.

Burke could make his Gillingham debut in their away game at Coventry City on Saturday.

After putting pen to paper on the move to Priestfield, Burke said: "Once I spoke to the manager I decided that Gillingham was the right place for me to get some game time.

"I want to play; I want to score goals and will be doing everything I can to help the club move up the table."