Preston North End manager's final verdict on quartet and what happens next - as Leeds United and Aston Villa deals conclude

And the Lilywhites’ boss has left the door ajar over potential returns to Lancashire next season, as attention now turns to the summer window.

North End sealed their Championship survival on the final day of the campaign, picking up a valuable point against Bristol City. Emil Riis and Milutin Osmajic gave PNE a 2-0 lead before Ross McCrorie’s second-half double left the score line at 2-2.

The point was enough to confirm the Lilywhites’ safety after heading into the campaign’s finale in a five-team battle to avoid the drop. After the full-time whistle there were no doubt some farewells, with a handful of Preston’s squad most likely having played their last game for the club.

Ryan Porteous, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Jayden Meghoma and Sam Greenwood will all depart Deepdale following the conclusion of their loan stays and return to Watford, Aston Villa, Brentford and Leeds United, respectively.

The quartet have played varying roles for PNE this term but manager Heckingbottom only had positives to say, when reflecting on their stints with the Championship outfit.

"Yeah, good, we've needed them," said Heckingbottom. "People always think, and I've had this with owners as well, if they've not played every minute of every game, they've been a failure. You need good people in your squad, you need them to step up.

"Ryan Porteous came in and did great for us in big moments at the time. I think back to his performance, his first game, away at Norwich and he stepped in for the goal - immense contribution. Good character, we needed him, we had no-one. Jayden (Meghoma) the same.

"Kaine's played the majority of games and, as I said, might have been critical of him today, but he's had a fantastic loan, won our Player of the Season, the Player's Player and his game's gone on another level.

"Sam started on fire, big threat for us, dropped off a little bit, but we've used him every time he's been available.So, yeah, the loans have been really important and yeah, they're probably going to be just as, if not more important next year."

Attention turns to the transfer window

Attention now turns to the transfer window as Heckingbottom prepares for his first summer at the club. There’s no doubt the manager will be looking to strengthen in several areas as Preston bid to push higher up the table. As for loan men perhaps returning, there were no overly strong statements on the PNE boss’ part.

"We'll have to see... we've got so many spots to fill," said Heckingbottom. "Some of them will be filled by the ones who are here, where that's loans or out of contracts. It's not like we can go out and, say we need 14 bodies, go and buy 14... we can't do that. Loans, free transfers, boys who are here, yeah, it'd be a mixture of."

Your next PNE read: 27 superb photos of 1,213 Preston North End faithful celebrating Championship survival at Bristol City