'If they don't - Ryan Lowe puts ball in Alan Browne's court over Preston North End contract

Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe says the ball is in the court of Alan Browne over the captain's contract at Deepdale.

The Lilywhites' skipper - who has been a PNE player for 10 years - sees his deal expire in the summer along with key midfielder Ben Whiteman. Both players have been offered fresh terms by the club, with Browne confirming that himself on Boxing Day. Back in September, the Irishman shared that he would be happy to sign fresh terms.

But, four months on from those comments, the number eight has not put pen-to-paper. Lowe, in his pre-match press conference, was asked about the situation - after director Peter Ridsdale outlined his belief, last week, that both players would end up staying at Preston. The PNE boss assured there has 'definitely not' been any bids received for North End players.

"I just leave it to Peter now," said Lowe. "That is his job, he is the master at it and I have left it with him. The players know how I feel about them, but again I cannot get too bogged down with it. We have got replacements lined up, if they don't sign - which you have to do. It'd be foolish to sit here and say we haven't. No-one will leave this month, definitely not. Not in a million years. Peter is on side with that, I am and Craig (Hemmings) is on side with that. Nobody will leave this month, because we need all the players we have to collect as many points as we possibly can.

"But, as it goes towards the end of the season... if they stay, great for everyone; if they don't then we have players lined up that can fill the void. You only have to look at players who left last season and the players we brought in. There is always someone else, so my stance on it is that I'm quite relaxed as that manager. If they commit, great. If they don't commit, there are always more players out there who'd like to play for Preston North End I'm sure."

When asked how important Browne is to the future of PNE, Lowe said: "Well, I don't look at players as how important they are for the club. I just look at how important they are for the team. In terms of the club - players, coaches and managers will come and go. The club has to stick to the fundamentals of what we are. We cannot go and pay people massive amounts of money and we have a budget we have to stick to.

"The commitment from the football club to offer contracts, for me, is massive. Then it is over to players as to whether they choose to do that. Alan knows what he is and what he has done for the football club. He will continue to do that when picked and when selected. If he is here next season, then great. If he is not and moves on somewhere else, then no problem. Footballers come and go, along with managers and coaching staff.

"The football club is not going anywhere and I think it's a case of sticking to what we want to be, doing what we want to do and signing for what we feel is right. It is then over to the players. If they are committed to other things, that is fine isn't it? The football club has to stick to what it's good at and that's staying within the financials and everything that goes with it, as you've seen over the past week or so with the stuff that's come out. So yeah, the ball is in Alan's court."

Lowe kept selecting Daniel Johnson until the end of last campaign, after which the Jamaica international brought his eight-and-a-half year stay at Deepdale to an end. Whatever the future holds for Browne and Whiteman, Preston's boss does not envisage a situation where he decides to leave either player out of his team.

"No, I am not that type," said Lowe. "Nobody has actually turned around and said 'no' to the contract, so they are not sitting here saying that they are going somewhere else - or they've got a pre-contract signed somewhere else. That's not the case. I think most players do try their luck and try their hand on getting different things. That's fine; that's where Peter deals with all that. I don't. But, it wouldn't be a case of me not picking you because you aren't signing. I have got to pick the best players who can perform and the rest of that takes care of itself in my eyes."