Greg Docherty plays for Preston North End Under-21s as Graham Alexander mulls signing

Graham Alexander ran the rule on Greg Docherty on Monday night when the midfielder played for Preston North End's Under-21s.

The manager and his assistant, Chris Lucketti, were in attendance at Chorley's Victory Park to watch the Preston youngsters pick up a narrow 1-0 victory over their Fleetwood Town counterparts in the Premier League Cup.

While the likes of highly rated youngsters Ed Nolan, Isaac Irwin, Theo Carroll, George Gryba, Li-Bau Stowell and Cathal O’Sullivan were all in action, Alexander was likely keeping his eyes firmly peeled on Docherty in the middle of the park.

The 30-year-old has been training with North End since last week with a view to earning a contract, with Alexander looking to dip into the free agent market to bolster his squad amid a Championship relegation fight.

Docherty, who was released by Charlton Athletic on transfer deadline day despite being their captain, played 62 minutes in the match before being replaced by Harry Stringfellow.

Speaking after Saturday's defeat at Stoke City, Alexander said there had not yet been any update on whether Docherty would be signing for the club as he had been concentrating on the match.

“We've been focussed on this game for the last two days, so we'll just see how that progresses," he told The Post.

It was another player Alexander has been watching, Irwin, who got the winner just before the half-time break.

The teenage centre-back has been an unused substitute twice for the new manager, against Wrexham and West Brom, and after the Fleetwood goalkeeper fumbled a cross, Irwin coolly lifted the ball over him into the empty net for his second goal in a row.

The young Lilywhites saw out the victory and were helped when the Cod Army were reduced to 10 men after Muhammad Oladiti was shown a red card for an off-the-ball altercation with Carroll.

North End have now completed the double over Fleetwood after defeating them 2-1 away in August, while they have also suffered a 1-0 defeat to Wolves and drawn 2-2 with Burnley in the Premier League Cup.

What Graham Alexander has said about Greg Docherty

Alexander spoke glowingly about Docherty's attitude last week when he came to train at Euxton despite being made 'no promises.'

Putting in a shift with the Under-21s, Docherty's first game since playing 90 minutes in a Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in August, has no doubt gone down well, too.

Docherty left Charlton by mutual consent despite having a year remaining on his contract as Nathan Jones wanted to 'evolve' his team. However, the Addicks have not won a game since he left and some fans are regretting letting him go.

Speaking last week, Alexander told BBC Radio Lancashire on Docherty: “He's in training with us. He's been here this week. He's someone who was put on our radar.

”I’ve just had a good chat with there about the rest of the week but he's fit, he's experienced, good footballer, knows the level, been part successful teams.

“We've got one space in the squad to potentially fill. We have got a few injuries, we're trying work out exactly who will be back before the window in January.

“So we, if we do have to add any more players, we might have to think outside the box a little bit.

“But while we have an opportunity to maybe add to the squad, it's our responsibility to try and do that, and Greg especially comes with a real good body of work behind him.

“He's not been training with a team since the end of the window, but he's kept himself in great shape. Just did a fitness test, this morning, before training and blew it out of the water. So, yeah, he looks in good shape.

“He's been a captain. He's been a promotion winner, he's got a voice, he's got experience. He's still got hunger.

”Before he came in we didn't make any promises. We just said: ‘Look, come in, and we'll have a look you,’ and he was like: ‘That's enough for me.’

“And it tells you a bit about his character that he's he's backing himself.

“We had a really good chat there because he sees this as a top club, at a great level and he’d love to be a part of it, but we're just gonna wait a few more days to see a little bit more of him.”

The manager continued: “It's not a question of his quality or anything like that, but when you haven't trained with a club or you left, we all have to keep proving ourselves all the way through our career.

“So it was just a case of that really. But I think he's come in with an open mind.

“I think he's fitted into the group really well. I think he already knows maybe four or five players already.

“But the way he's competed this week, he looks like a proper competitor as well.

“I think any good player that we can add to the squad is worth it for us. So we'll see how the rest of the week progresses, but we've been really impressed with him so far.”

Preston only have 24 senior players in their 25-man squad, leaving room for one addition.