‘With our attributes’ - Will Keane hoping to forge lethal Preston North End strike partnership with £2.1m man

Preston North End marksman Will Keane hopes he can forge a fruitful strike partnership at the club with Milutin Osmajic.

Osmajic transferred to Deepdale earlier this summer for a reported club record fee of £2.15million and has made a positive impact since his arrival. The 24-year-old has one goal and an assist in seven league matches, and there is more to come from the Montenegro international.

Keane is Preston’s most creative player this season and has six goal contributions this term with four goals and two assists. He missed several games through injury and in his absence Osmajic played. The 30-year-old had a good position from the stands to see how his teammate got to grips with the Championship, and from what he’s seen of him so far he’s been impressed.

“Yes, definitely,” said Keane when asked by SkyBet if he’s looking forward to building up a strike partnership with the summer arrival.

“He’s settled in really well, especially considering the language barrier, it’s not been easy for him. He was only here for a couple of days and was straight into the team because I had a little injury for a couple weeks.

“He’s got a goal under his belt already and you can see with each game that he’s settling in more and more and it’s up to us lads to help him.”

Keane can play as an attacking midfielder or a striker, meanwhile Osmajic is capable of playing as a winger or as a centre forward. The pair played alongside each other against Ipswich Town, but Osmajic then had to settle for a place amongst the subs bench against Millwall.

Ryan Lowe this season has favoured a 3-4-2-1 formation but there is a hope from Preston's leading player this season that he and Osmajic can strike up a partnership should tactics change.

Keane added: “Every game is different, but hopefully there will be opportunities for us to play up front together and I think that with our attributes we’ll complement each other. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to build that partnership with him.”