Paul Heckingbottom on whether £1.7m man has Preston North End future after Aberdeen move

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom says winger Jeppe Okkels can still have a future under him at Deepdale.

The Dane - who cost PNE a reported £1.7million in the summer - has joined Aberdeen on loan for the rest of the season in a move that sees him reunite with old Elfsborg boss, Jimmy Thelin. Okkels has been limited to little game time at Preston following his move from FC Utrecht.

As well as the 25-year-old, striker Layton Stewart has headed to Switzerland - where he will spend the rest of the season on loan with Swiss Challenge League leaders FC Thun. Stewart hasn’t played for PNE this season after making 16 substitute appearances in his first season with the club.

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There are buy-options in both loan agreements. Naturally, given the reported fee spent, the Okkels situation has gained the most attention. Heckingbottom was keen to get both players much needed game time but insists that the door is not closed on Okkels - who is contracted until 2027.

“Yes, definitely (he can be a part of it moving forward),” said Heckingbottom. “It's always tough to move and adjust. A different style of football, different country and I think for him as well, he literally signed and the manager's gone who signed him and someone else is coming in. ‘Does this man want me?’ All these things. So, yes, he's had a real difficult start.

“But a really good guy... not a moment's bother, really popular in the dressing room. So, yes, we'd love him to do really well there. I think one good thing about him going there as well is that the manager who played a certain system with him in the team, wants him and wants him to perform that exact same way. So, if he's going to get the best chance to be successful, he should do with this loan.

“Layton got an opportunity, literally as we came in and it didn't happen for him for different reasons. Me and Layton had a lot of conversations about that. He knuckled down, tried to get in our team but he understands the importance of playing first-team football and building a career. He's at an age now where that's really important. So yes, 100 per cent the right thing for him and us.

“And probably similar to Jeppe. He’s come in, seen a change of manager literally straight away - I don't know if that’s knocked his approach and how he's been. Again, we had lots of conversations about what he needed to do to get in the team and how we would approach it this window. But he wanted to be in our team. He was never asking to leave, never unhappy.

“He just wanted more game time and tried his best to get in our team. But we did have something set up for him with a previous manager of his, which he thinks is good for him. So, it's good for us. If he's getting minutes there, then we can keep that value in him. Come the summer and he's played another 20, 30 games, then that'll be ideal for us as well.”

It has been a challenging 12 months for Okkels, not just the four so far at Deepdale. He moved to the Netherlands in January of last year and only played five games in the second half of the season for FC Utrecht. An awful lot has gone on for him off the pitch in the last year and not much at all on it.

“Whirlwind, yeah,” said Heckingbottom. “He did very well before, went to Holland, in and out. He would have probably preferred a more successful season. So, he's got a move here. It's a tough industry and a tough sport. I mentioned before about dealing with adversity and stuff. He's had a lot of things thrown at him all in one go there. I think a bit of familiarity will do him the world of good and hopefully us.”