Kevin Kilbane has a theory about why Andy Moran isn't starting for Preston North End

Kevin Kilbane is a huge fan of Andy Moran, but believes his ‘off the cuff’ playing style may be preventing him from getting a starting spot at Preston North End.

Moran was signed from Brighton in the January transfer window but has found opportunities difficult to come by at Preston, having made just 17 appearances for the club so far.

The 23-year-old has yet to start in the Championship this season, but has come off the bench three times for Graham Alexander.

The new manager said he was impressed with Moran's 45-minute performance against West Brom and it appeared he was pushing hard to start at Stoke City.

However, Brad Potts was selected for the attacking midfield role in a new-look 4-2-3-1 system instead, with Alexander wanting him to run forward to press the opposition but an early yellow card hampered his ability to do so.

Local lad Kilbane believes a defensive mindset by Preston is what is keeping Moran out of the side.

"Andrew Moran is a player I’ve liked for a long time, going back to his Blackburn days," he told The Post, via BetBrain.

"He’s so talented and he’s a player who can play off the cuff, but that might be one of the reasons why he’s not getting enough game time.

"If you free him up a bit he can be creative and open games up, but right now Preston seem to be in a mentality of trying not to lose rather than trying to win."

"He’s so good in tight spaces"

Kilbane added that if Preston could find a system to suit Moran, then he would have a big impact on a side that is struggling to score goals.

He added: "I saw him play for LAFC with Heung-min Son and Denis Bouanga and he excelled in that environment.

"He needs to be given freedom and when he’s played for Ireland you can see the ability he’s got.

"He’s so good in tight spaces and he can open teams up.

"If they can find a system to free him up, I’m sure he’ll be a good player for Graham Alexander."

What Graham Alexander has said about Andy Moran

When asked about him ahead of the trip to Wrexham, Alexander praised Moran's technical qualities but insisted his creativity had to lead to tangible outputs in games.

After coming on at the break for Alfie Devine in the draw against West Brom, Alexander said the Irishman had answered the questions asked of him in his display.

"I think Andy was tenacious in the press," he said. "He supported the front two at all times, he's a creative player, he passed forward, he ran forward. That's the biggest thing.

"I questioned him in the first week I was here. You can see he's got the talent on the ball but is it going to hurt the opponent? Is he going to play forward, run forward?

"I think he made several telling passes going forward on the counter-attack but what I like about him is that he ended up in the box himself.

"I think it's just having that intent around our team when we have possession. What is our intent? What are we trying to do with it? It's got to be towards creating opportunities to score. It has to be that. If we have all our players with that mindset, then we will win games."

However, he didn't make the starting XI at the Bet365 Stadium, instead coming on for the final 27 minutes with North End already two goals down.

His next opportunity to start comes on Tuesday, when Preston welcome Sheffield United to Deepdale.