Preston North End defender Liam Lindsay on the challenge of replacing Liverpool-bound Ben Davies at Deepdale

The centre-back’s loan spell in the second half of last season was a slow burner.

But as time went on the Scot grew into it and was to impress sufficiently to earn a permanent move from Stoke earlier in the month.

Lindsay was signed on the final day of the winter transfer window to fill the gap left by Liverpool-bound Ben Davies

Those were big boots to fill and the fact Lindsay had not played a first-team game for 12 months only added to the task in front of him.

“It was always going to be a bit hard to start with, coming in to replace a guy who had just gone to Liverpool,” Lindsay told the Lancashire Post.

“The fans knew all about what Ben Davies could do, he’d been here quite a while.

“I hadn’t played for a year at Stoke, I was a bit rusty, so it took a bit of time.

“What was good was that I scored the goal at Blackburn in the derby, that helped.

“I played a couple more games after that and knew I could do better. Then I got an injury which kept me out for a while.”

It was a run of games under Frankie McAvoy which helped Lindsay show his true self and ultimately got him a full-time switch to Deepdale.

He was the Lilywhites’ first summer signing, with Sepp van den Berg becoming the second.

Said Lindsay: “I got a good run of games at the end of the season.

“It helped maybe that I scored in the final match at Nottingham Forest. I’m not saying that was a deal clincher but things had built up quite nicely.

“Frankie taking over happened at a good time for me. I knew I could do better than I’d been doing and he helped me.

“The formation he played suited me and he trusted me with that role in the middle of the back three.

“Now that I’ve signed it is up to me this season to keep on playing well and improving.”

Lindsay and his North End team-mates will report back for pre-season training a week on Thursday (July 1).

The 25-year-old defender has enjoyed the summer the best he can, fitting in a short holiday in the sun.

Lindsay said: “I managed to get to Portugal when it was still a green zone for a bit of sun and a game or two of golf.

“I’ve been back to Scotland too which was good.”

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