Preston North End to try and turn transfer window loans into permanent deals

Seven of the Lilywhites' eight signings in the winter transfer window were loans and EFL rules restrict Championship clubs to five loan players in a match day squad - irrespective of their age.

So the choice for North End is to negotiate two of the loans into permanent deals or leave two of the loanees sat in the stand for games.

Turning loans into permanent moves can be done outside of the transfer window as the players are already registered

The seven loan players on the books are Jayson Molumby (Brighton), Daniel Iversen (Leicester), Ched Evans (Fleetwood), Greg Cunningham (Cardiff), Liam Lindsay (Stoke), Sepp van den Berg (Liverpool) and Anthony Gordon (Everton).

Peter Ridsdale, the representative of PNE owner Trevor Hemmings, told the Lancashire Post: "We either have to leave two out or turn two into permanents.

"We are on with that task and will take the opportunity to try and reduce the number of loans.

"We knew what the numbers were but we weren't going to turn down the chance to sign quality players on loan.

"They have come in for different reasons, Daniel Iversen for example we signed when Declan Rudd got injured.

"We'd been looking at Daniel for 12-18 months but there hadn't been a need to bring him because Declan had been in excellent form.

" Anthony Gordon is someone we had been tracking for 18 months and we beat off substantial competition from other clubs in the Championship.

"We were delighted when we got Anthony over the line late in the window.

"Liam Lindsay is a left-sided defender who Alex Neil knows well from Scotland and Ben Davies' transfer meant we needed someone at the back.

"Every piece of loan business we did had a reason behind it and we were delighted to get them all."

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