Preston North End loan report: Big Aberdeen occasion, ex-Liverpool man's spell, game time and goals

Preston North End have six players currently out on loan in various leagues and levels.

Young duo Kian Taylor and Kacper Pasiek returned from their spells at National League club Altrincham last month. That left Jeppe Okkels, Layton Stewart, Noah Mawene, Kian Best, Kitt Nelson and Max Wilson as the PNE men out on temporary deals.

Of those, the greatest focus has been on Okkels - who made the move to Aberdeen five months after joining PNE for a seven-figure fee, from FC Utrecht. The Lancashire Post recently got the inside lowdown on how his spell at the Pittodrie Stadium has gone.

Since then, the Dane has continued to feature for Jimmy Thelin’s side and made a positive impact off the bench, in last weekend’s win over Rangers. The Dons are now preparing for Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts.

Okkels has made 13 appearances for Aberdeen, with 12 of those coming in the league. He has racked up 730 minutes of football, with 10 starts made and one assist provided. Thelin recently suggested that the club already has a good idea of whether they will exercise their option to buy Okkels this summer.

Aberdeen are fifth in the table and the final five, post-split league fixtures have now been confirmed. Okkels will have the semi-final to impress, potentially a final and then the remaining SPL fixtures against Hibernian, Rangers, St Mirren, Celtic and Dundee United.

Over in Switzerland, striker Stewart has been featuring consistently for FC Thun - who occupy top spot in the Swiss Challenge League. The 22-year-old has netted two goals in 11 appearances for the club, with 617 minutes managed.

The one PNE man out on loan in England is Noah Mawene. He has had a injury-disrupted campaign with League Two side Newport County, who are placed 18th in the fourth tier. Mawene, 20, has played 15 games across all competitions with 563 minutes of action under his belt.

Over in Ireland, Kitt Nelson has been a regular for League of Ireland strugglers Cork City - for whom he is playing with former Preston striker, Sean Maguire. Eight of Nelson’s 10 appearances have been starts and he’s chipped in with a couple of goals too.

Nelson penned a professional contract before heading over to Cork, as did Max Wilson. The midfielder is with Galway United alongside ex-North End man, Greg Cunningham. After a couple of substitute outings, he has struggled to break into the fold. Kian Best is with Bohemians but injury has limited his game time.

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