Preston North End loan report: Cruel Aberdeen moment, injury frustration and debuts for youngsters
PNE have a handful of players out on loan
Preston North End winger Jeppe Okkels thought he had opened his account for Aberdeen in style last weekend.
The Dane fired a fine finish into the bottom right corner and wheeled away in celebration, only for VAR to rule the first half strike offside. Jimmy Thelin’s side still went on to win 2-1 against Kilmarnock with the Dons securing their third win on the spin.
Okkels played 73 minutes in his seventh Aberdeen appearance across all competitions. He has racked up 470 minutes of football for the Scottish Premiership side; more than double what he had managed in the first half of the campaign at Deepdale.
The Dane is getting the first team football he desperately needed after a full year of barely playing, for FC both Utrecht and North End. Okkels has started six straight league games on the left wing, with Thelin sticking by a player he has succeeded with before.
He arrived at the Pittodrie Stadium lacking match fitness and is yet to complete 90 minutes, but gradually making more of an impression north of the border. Time will tell whether Aberdeen choose to exercise their buy option in the summer, or if Okkels returns to the fold at Preston.
Elsewhere, striker Layton Stewart was a substitute for the first time in the Swiss Challenge League - following four consecutive starts for FC Thun. The front man opened his account in a 3-2 win over FC Schaffhausen in late January; he has played 234 minutes in the league to date.
At Newport County, Noah Mawene’s stint has been disrupted by injury. The 20-year-old was in and around the XI at the start of the season but has only made four appearances since the end of October, taking his total to 13 and 511 minutes. A hamstring blow sidelined him for six weeks.
Four of the remaining six out-on-loan PNE men are over in Ireland. Kian Best played 71 minutes on debut for Bohemians, at left-back, in a 1-0 away defeat to Derry City. Kitt Nelson managed 45 minutes on his full debut for Cork City, away to Cobh Ramblers in the Munster Senior Cup.
He then came off the bench for 13 minutes, on his league debut, as Cork drew 2-2 away to Galway United - whom second-year scholar Max Wilson is with. The Ireland U19 has made two substitute appearances for Galway so far, playing seven minutes at Cork and one at home to St Pat’s.
North End duo in National League
Rounding off, Kacper Pasiek has returned to Altrincham to finish his loan spell. That was extended until March 4 in early February, but he headed back to Preston and was on the bench against Norwich City and Burnley in the Championship.
The left-back was back in Alty’s squad for Saturday’s defeat to AFC Fylde, though. He entered the fray on 76 minutes to make his third appearance of the season for the club. It’s a step up for Pasiek - who spent time on loan at Marine in the National League North last campaign.
Versatile midfielder Kian Taylor is also on loan at Altrincham and opened his account for them in the recent away win at Gateshead. Taylor made his third league start in a row last weekend, with that his fifth appearance of a loan spell which runs until March 1.