The AFC Bournemouth loan man opened his account for PNE against Charlton Athletic

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom has not been surprised to see Daniel Jebbison fit in easily.

The Canadian scored his first goal in a PNE shirt last weekend, as the Lilywhites beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Deepdale. Jebbison is on loan at North End from AFC Bournemouth and got up and running in his seventh appearance for Preston.

It was a close range finish which secured the points for PNE, and Jebbison’s team-mates lapped up the forward’s moment with him. The 22-year-old had returned to the starting lineup and worked tirelessly in attack.

Heckingbottom brought Jebbison through at Sheffield United and jumped at the chance to reunite with him this summer. While delighted for him last weekend, the PNE boss couldn’t help but joke about his love-hate relationship with the player.

“Yeah, Jebbo's a likeable lad,” Heckingbottom told the Lancashire Post. “He's a good character around the players, they like him. I just said downstairs... listen, everyone knows I think he's a great lad, but I forgot how much he frustrated me. I’ve wanted to slap him about a few times already while he's been here!

“It's like I'm starting again with him, but you can see he's got big talent, big potential. Even the goal, it's fantastic from Alfie (Devine), but it's Jebbo's athleticism that gets him there and he gets a tap in. That desire to go and score. But while he's working as hard as he does for the team, his teammates will be all over him and they'll have that.”

On whether he feels like a father figure for Jebbison, the Preston North End manager said: “No chance! I want to distance myself from him... that’s Euelly’s role.”

Jebbison on Heckingbottom relationship

Speaking to iFollow post-match, he said last weekend: “Honestly, he’s really good. He’s a good man. He's known me since I was a little boy. He's ultimately the reason why I came here in the first place and to have him as my manager is the best.

“I really like him. He's helping me develop, as he did when I was younger breaking through at Sheffield United. Now, it's just the next phase of my career under him. I think the gaffer is just putting principles in all of us; we're doing exactly what he's saying.

“He's been in a promotion side and brought teams to the Premier League. He can definitely do that for us. 90 per cent of the time it's what you do off the ball, and that's what we're working on alongside going forward as well. I'm really excited for this team man... we’re good.”

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