Winger Daryl Horgan frustrated by lack of starts for PNE

Winger Daryl Horgan has had a disappointing season

The winger is in the Irish squad for the friendlies with France on Monday night and the USA next Saturday.

Horgan made only five starts for North End in the 2017/18 season.

Just twice did he start in the Championship, in the Christmas matches against Barnsley and Cardiff.

Horgan (right) has come off the bench 18 times this season

He came off the bench 18 times, his single league goal coming at Burton Albion last December.

Horgan’s fringe role is in contrast to when he arrived at Deepdale in January 2017.

That came on the back of an Europa League campaign and a League of Ireland title win with Dundalk. He made 20 appearances in that first half season, half of them starts.

This term, others were ahead of him in the pecking order.

Tom Barkhuizen featured in every Championship game, starting 43 of them.

Callum Robinson and Sean Maguire both had stints in wide areas, with Billy Bodin’s arrival in January bringing further competition.

It is understood that North End are willing to be patient with Horgan and give him the chance to push for a regular place.

He has 12 months left on his contract and there is a chance of an extension this summer.

Speaking to the media in Dundalk earlier in the month, Horgan said: “To be honest, this season has been quite a disappointment on my part.

“The team has done well and the lads have played well, but I was hoping to play as much as I possibly could.

“I never really got going as much as I would have liked and I’ve not really played too much this year or impacted games as much as I would have liked.

“Going from a position from where I had played so much to not playing at all was very, very tricky.”

Horgan joined North End together with Andy Boyle, who struggled to get on the pitch more than Horgan this season.

Centre-half Boyle spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Doncaster and looks likely to be on the move this summer.

Meanwhile, former North End winger Will Hayhurst has signed for Farsley Celtic who play in the NPL Premier  Division.

After a long spell out of the game with injury, Hayhurst played for Warrington Town last season.

He made 48 appearances for PNE after coming through the youth ranks, playing for the club he supported as a boy.

Hayhurst left Deepdale in January 2015 to sign for Notts County but his time there was beset by a series of problems with his knee.