Preston North End left-back Josh Earl glad to be back home at Deepdale after a season away on loan
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There had been 16 months between last week’s Carabao Cup clash and his previous competitive appearance in a Lilywhite shirt.
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Hide AdLoans spells at Bolton and Ipswich filled his time last season and now Earl is back with North End pushing for a first-team place.
He will be in action either today at Sheffield United or tomorrow against Everton as Alex Neil sends his squad into a double header against Premier League opposition.
Then will come the fine tuning on the training pitch next week ahead of the Championship opener with Swansea at Deepdale.
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Hide AdEarl told the Lancashire Post: “It’s nice to be back in the squad here.
“Last week it was great to play at Deepdale again because it was a long time since I’d done that.
“I’m really enjoying being with the lads, the training is good and I feel I’ve done all right in the games so far.
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Hide Ad“We’ve got two good games coming up against Premier League sides – whichever one you play in will be a big test.”
It is three years since Earl broke into the PNE first team, Neil handing him in debut in August 2017.
He was a teenager then and has gone on to play 37 times for North End, with a further 18 appearances at Bolton and Ipswich.
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Hide Ad“I feel the time has gone quite quickly since I made my debut,” said Earl.
“The season I broke into the team and the following season, I played a similar amount of games.
“I had the two loans last season which benefited me, even if I did get some injuries.
“The loans gave me experience of different things.
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Hide Ad“At Bolton it was all about fighting to stay up, while at Ipswich it was fighting to try and go up.”
The 21-year-old took some hard knocks in both loans, in particular a nasty ankle injury picked up on his Bolton debut.
He played some of the games at Ipswich wearing a protective mask to cover a facial injury.
Said Earl: “I think I was a bit unlucky with the injuries.
“They were contact injuries which you can’t avoid in competitive football.
“I don’t think I’ve had a muscular injury in football, if I’ve been out it’s been because of a contact injury.”