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...
17. SUB: Ben Whiteman
The captain will rack up plenty of starts this year but there's only two deeper midfield spots, unless Heckingbottom leaves Frokjaer and Potts out. It's tough to predict what the PNE boss will go with. | CameraSport - Alex Dodd
18. SUB: Jordan Thompson
PNE moved quickly to bring the Northern Ireland international in this summer, so he's going to feature regularly. It will probably be a case of Thompson working his way into the starting XI, mind. | (Photo by William Cherry/Presseye)
19. SUB: Jeppe Okkels
The Dane is back from his loan spell with Aberdeen and at the moment, one of few, senior attacking players to name on the bench. Time will tell whether he moves on but right now you'd have him in the squad. | Camera Sport
20. ST: Will Keane
Heckingbottom can turn to Keane for certain games but his role this year may well be off the bench predominantly. | CameraSport - Andrew Kearns