Trio of clubs tracking Preston North End striker Louis Moult

The 27-year-old was not in the squad for PNE’s defeat at Millwall on Saturday and did not play in the bounce game against Salford yesterday.

It is understood that a club from the Championship has shown an interest, while the others are from League One and Scotland.

While the transfer window shuts tomorrow teatime for Championship and Premier League teams, they can still do outgoing deals with clubs in League One and League Two until September 2.

The September deadline also applies in Scotland.

Any loan deal for Moult would involve a contribution to his wages.

He is believed to be open to the idea of a spell on loan to get games under his belt. Moult was a £450,000 buy from Motherwell in January 2018 but his time at Deepdale has been stop-start.

He made four starts and seven sub appearances in that opening half season with North End, scoring twice.

In the 2018/19 campaign Moult started 10 games in all competitions and came off the bench 16 times in the league.

He found the net five times, including in the 4-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers last November and the winner at Nottingham Forest two weeks later.

But soon after scoring at the City Ground, Moult pulled his hamstring and was not fit to return until the end of March.

Moult is competing with Sean Maguire, David Nugent and Jayden Stockley for the striker’s role at Deepdale.

PNE boss Alex Neil favours the use of a single forward, backed up by support from the wings and the No.10 role.

Maguire started up front at Millwall, Stockley coming on early in the second half. That saw Maguire move first to the left wing and then to the No.10 role.

Nugent did not make the matchday squad at Millwall but travelled to The Den. The 34-year-old played the first half of yesterday’s bounce game to sharpen his fitness after a summer knee operation.

PNE won the game 2-1 at Springfields, Billy Bodin and Josh Harrop scoring.

New signings Tom Bayliss and Andre Green featured.

Bayliss had not played at Millwall, Neil deeming it too soon after a busy time for the 20-year-old in completing his move from Coventry.

Aston Villa loanee Green came on for the last 15 minutes on Saturday and got an hour or so yesterday,

The bounce game was an opportunity for those who did not start at Millwall to push for first-team inclusion against Wigan on Saturday.

Meanwhile, season cards will remain on sale until 
kick-offagainst Wigan.