Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe praises former Burnley man Robbie Brady's leadership

Brady played an hour as North End lost out 2-1 in Campoamor, in front of hundreds of PNE fans who had made the trip over to Spain.

The Irishman was a standout in the game, talking his teammates through it and showing great intensity and quality on the ball, setting up North End’s goal.

With his experience in the top flight, spending just a few seasons outside of the Premier League, Lowe expects the 30-year-old to show his pedigree this season.

“That's what Rob brings, he's not only a good footballer, he's a good lad,” Lowe said.

“He knows the game, he's played at the top level.

“He coaches, makes a mistake and gets on with things with his reaction, which is big for me. It's perfect.

“He's not only a good footballer but a true leader and I thought he was fantastic.”

PNE changed things up a little bit against Getafe, Lowe switching up his formation. He deployed Ben Woodburn and Daniel Johnson behind Emil Riis, rather than two central strikers.

Lowe was pleased with how his side adapted to the new system, which is a bit of forward planning for when they must focus on being hard to beat in the upcoming Championship season.

He said: “It was excellent, I thought how we played and what we did is something that we want to look at.

“We were flexible and can rotate into different formations, it's not a massive change it's just a little change here and there and will make us better out of possession.

“I thought we did that fantastically. We worked with the players for a few days on what we were trying to achieve and you could see that in large parts, especially in the first half.”

“There are still a few things that we need to sort out, we're still only two-and-a-half weeks into pre-season.

“I've said we'll change when we need to change, whether it's to suit the opposition or to respect them, I just thought with the opposition of Getafe it was right to try something new. It paid off.”