Preston North End

Five best Preston North End players this season

Preston North End are one of the original 12 founders of the Football League and were winners of the first two competitions for the 1888/89 and 1889/90 seasons, unbeaten in their first season and losing just four games in their second. This current season marks the fifth season they have been in the Sky Bet Championship after a similar time in League One.

Their previous four campaigns have seen the Lilywhites finish 11th, 11th, 7th and 14th and they Lancastrian side find themselves currently in 6th, the last of the playoff places in the Sky Bet Championship but they are there with five teams below them within a three-point touching distance.

With the wait going on as to when the season will fire up again amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, here are the top five Preston North End players so far in the 2019/20 campaign.

1. Daniel Johnson: 27-year-old Johnson has blossomed this season in Preston’s line-up. He originally came int ofootball through Aston Villa’s youth set-up and transferred to the Lilywhites in the latter part of the January 2015 transfer window for a nominal fee. This season the central midfielder has shown his promise and has gone on to head Preston’s scoring and assists lists.
Played – 26, Goals – 11, Assists – 6 – Starting XI – 70% – Team minutes played – 67%

2. Tom Barkhuizen: Right-sided 26-year-old Barkhuizen started off at Blackpool and came to Preston after they picked him up at the start of January 2017 after he’d been released by Morecambe the previous November. Since then he’s gone on to become an influential player for the Lilywhites with 139 appaearnces, 32 goals and 15 assists on his Preston account.
Played – 35, Goals – 9, Assists – 4 – Starting XI – 81% – Team minutes played – 79%

3. Josh Harrop: Young attacking midfielder Harrop is a 24-year-old who started his football journey with Manchester United, signing in a free transfer deal for Preston at the beginning of July 2017. The central midfielder has not had much time on the pitch but he’d impressed during the action that he has seen.
Played – 25, Goals – 5, Assists – 1 – Starting XI – 32% – Team minutes played – 36%

4. Paul Gallagher: The Evergreen Gallagher, he’ll be 36 in early August, continues to hold his own in the very compeitive league that the Sky Bet Championship is. He’d been at Deepdale on two loans from Leicester City spanning 2013-2015 before eventually joining on a free transfer at the start of July 2015. This season has shown that he still has a big part to play for the Lilywhites in a campaign that sees them in a playoff place at the moment.
Played – 26, Goals – 6, Assists – 2 – Starting XI – 49% – Team minutes played – 48%

5. Alan Browne: Irishman Browne, who signed for Preston from Cork City Under-19s at the start of January 2014, has impressed over the course of this campaign so far from his usual central midfield role. As well as catching the eye with his displays, the nine-cap Republic of Ireland international has also weighed in with his fair share of goals and assists.
Played – 36, Goals – 4, Assists – 3 – Starting XI – 78% – Team minutes played – 80%

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