Preston must keep an eye on former star Jordan Hugill when they face Norwich

The striker joined Norwich in a £2.6m switch from West Ham last month.

PNE play the Canaries at Carrow Road this afternoon (3pm) in a game where 1,000 home supporters are being allowed in the ground as part of an EFL pilot.

They sold Hugill to West Ham for £9.5m in January 2018 but he made only three substitute appearances for the Hammers.

He has since had loans with Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers, playing against North End for both clubs.

Lilywhites manager Alex Neil is a big fan of Hugill and hasn’t been able to replace him adequately.

He’d scored 10 goals in the first-half of the 2017/18 season before West Ham made their move to take him to London.

Neil said: “I don’t know if Jordan will start because he didn’t start their first game at Huddersfield – Pukki played up front for them.

“I think it shows the strength in depth Norwich have, to buy Jordan for whatever they bought him for and have him on the bench.

“They had the boy Ben Gibson on the bench and he didn’t get on, while Alex Tettey who was the skipper last season didn’t get on.

“It was absolutely life-changing for Jordan when he went from us to West Ham, a no-brainer for him.

“He needed to take that move, he did the right thing.

“Having worked in the Premier League, there is no shame in going there and not getting as many games as you have liked – it’s really tough.

“Jordan has earned everything he has got through hard work and being very good for us.

“He did well for QPR and Middlesbrough as well. He’s a proven Championship striker who will get you between 10 to 20 goals a season.”

Hugill joined North End from Port Vale in June 2014, with PNE paying a small youth compensation fee for him at the end of his contract.

He netted 30 goals in his time at Deepdale, a good 2016/17 season and a strong first-half of the following campaign seeing West Ham come sniffing – he was linked with a whole host of clubs in the months before.

Meanwhile, Preston will face Brighton in the third round of the Carabao Cup next week at Deepdale after the Seagulls beat Portsmouth 4-0.

The draw has already been made for the fourth round, with North End or Brighton at home to Luton or Manchester United.

The chance that it could be United is a great incentive for PNE, that very likely to attract live television coverage on Sky Sports and the broadcast fee that would bring.