Why wasn’t Preston North End’s new signing Bambo No.5?

Diaby signed a short-term contract on transfer deadline day, a deal which takes the defender through to the end of the season.

PNE have given him the No.41 shirt, the second highest in the squad behind Brad Potts who wears 44.

Giving him that number is a twist on the song ‘Mambo No.5’ made famous by Lou Bega’s 1999 cover of the tune written in 1949.

North End could not give him the No.5 shirt as it is worn by Patrick Bauer.

So they went for 41 for Diaby on the basis that four plus one equals five!

Fellow January signing Cameron Archer was given the No.21 shirt when he joined from Aston Villa on loan.

PNE could not give out the squad numbers vacated by players out on loan.

Tom Bayliss’ No.7 shirt has remained free since he joined Wigan on a season-long loan last August.

Number 10, left behind by Josh Harrop when he went to Fleetwood, and No.14, left by Jordan Storey’s move to Sheffield Wednesday, are there for when they return.

Diaby’s signing gives PNE more defensive cover over the remainder of the season.

North End boss Ryan Lowe says the former Barnsley man can play across the back three and even at right wing-back.

With Storey away on loan, Diaby is an extra body and one that hasn’t broken the bank.

Having been out of the game for two years due to his anti-doping ban, Diaby has a way back into football.

Sepp van den Berg, Bauer and Andrew Hughes have been the mainstay of the defence under Lowe’s management.

Further defensive cover is given by Liam Lindsay and Paul Huntington.

Now Diaby joins them and that should be sufficient to get North End through to the summer.

The next job for Lowe is to whittle down the first-team squad to 25 players.

By Friday, clubs in the Championship have to register their senior squads with the EFL to cover the rest of the season.

The 25-man squad is for players aged 21 and over, or who on loan irrespective of their age. Clubs can have an unlimited number of players under the age of 21.

North End’s current numbers meant that a couple of senior players will not be registered and will have to sit out the remaining games of the campaign.