Preston North End still have important work to do in the transfer window, but manager Paul Heckingbottom has some healthy competition already.
The Lilywhites have brought six new players to the club this summer after losing several players from last season’s squad, including Emil Riis, Freddie Woodman, Ryan Ledson and loan men Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Sam Greenwood.
Jack Whatmough has joined Huddersfield Town, with that the only outgoing to date at Deepdale. Heckingbottom has added Daniel Iversen, Pol Valentin, Odel Offiah, Jordan Thompson, Thierry Small and Daniel Jebbison to his ranks.
With the season opener at QPR now three weeks away, selecting a ‘strongest XI’ is not the easiest task - though there are a handful of shoe-ins within the PNE squad. The signs, though, are that we will see game-to-game tweaks and plenty of rotation.
Heckingbottom believes there is a lot more business to get completed in the remaining weeks of the window, so things could look different over the next month or so.
While it’s very much a squad game and everyone will play their part, here is our punt at PNE’s best side and substitutes...
5. RWB: Thierry Small
Heckingbottom has said he can play on either side and Small could well feature more on the left. Either way, he's surely going to start a lot of games for PNE. | Ian Robinson
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6. CM: Ali McCann
When McCann was fit last season he tended to start. Despite the addition of Jordan Thompson you cannot see that changing too much. | Kelvin Lister-Stuttard
7. CM: Stefan Thordarson
The PNE boss has a lot of belief in the Iceland international and he showed plenty of promise in that deeper role, over the second half of last season. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
8. LWB: Robbie Brady
Heckingbottom may have to pick and choose his games with Brady this year but if it was a final tomorrow, you'd still expect him to be in the XI. | CameraSport - Ian Cook