Preston North End goalkeeper Declan Rudd's new contract signed in lockdown was a significant piece of business

Having your first-choice goalkeeper down to the last three months of his deal is not the ideal position for any club.

Both PNE and Rudd played a patient game and things worked out well in the end as the keeper put his signature on a three-year deal last week.

The fact it was signed and sealed in lockdown was significant.

It shows North End are attempting to sail a steady ship through the rough waters of football’s shutdown.

Ideally they would have wanted Rudd to sign the deal before the world was stricken by this dreadful pandemic.

The contract offer had been on the table for a good while but these things rarely conclude quickly.

Others clubs in similar circumstances might have been tempted to put things on hold but Rudd was clearly someone they wanted to keep.

The keeper was not alone when it came to being in the final stages of his contract.

There are others on PNE’s books who have deals expiring at the end of June, or at least when this season gets played to a conclusion.

Paul Gallagher, Tom Clarke, Mathew Hudson, Michael Crowe, Connor Simpson and Kevin O’Connor are coming to the end of their current deals.

Gallagher brings so much experience to the squad and has started 18 league games this season with a further eight appearances from the bench. He has found the net six times too.

Club captain Clarke has not been involved as much as Gallagher.

He has had seven league starts and three more as a substitute.

PNE boss Alex Neil has tended to use him at right-back, often if the opposition offer a big threat physically.

Over Christmas though, when Joe Rafferty and Darnell Fisher were both suspended, Clarke started three games in a row against Cardiff, Leeds and Reading.

Keeper Hudson has still to add to the one first-team game he played for PNE in December 2015.

He has proved useful when it comes to satisfying the EFL’s rule on having a homegrown player in a matchday squad.

Crowe has played just once for North End, while Simpson is on loan at Accrington.

O’Connor is on loan with League of Ireland side Waterford.

The left-back's last game for PNE was in December 2017, with him since having loan spells at Fleetwood, Crewe and Cork City.