Preston North End man Ben Woodburn has revealed he wants to sign a new contract at Deepdale and remain with the club next season.
Preston are currently sat 12th in the table on the back of a five game unbeaten run, but only one win has come in that spell which sees them still remain eight points off the play-off spots.
Ryan Lowe’s side’s last two outings will give the Lilywhites confidence moving forward after back-to-back goalless draws against Coventry City and Watford who both sit above them, with the result against the latter seeing Slaven Bilic sacked soon after.
Despite the lack of goals, Preston could be set to lose one of their main creative players in Woodburn, who sees his contract expire at the end of the season. Although the club have the option to extend, they’re yet to trigger it, something that Woodburn told the Lancashire Post he hopes they do.
When asked whether he wants to remain at Deepdale next season he said:
“Oh yeah, 100%. I’m enjoying it. It feels nice to be a part of a team, I’ve been on a lot of loans and you feel like you’re in and out and you’re never going to be staying there. So it does feel nice to be a part of a team and playing a lot of games this year.
“My contract does run out but hopefully if we can get it done it could be a lot more than a year. That’s what I really want to do.”
Woodburn to stay?
After moving through the Liverpool youth ranks and heading out on various loan deals, Woodburn finally ended his spell at Anfield and signed for Preston in the summer.
The worry for Lowe this season has been their consistency at the other end of the pitch that currently sees them fall short of the play-off chasing pack, scoring the second lowest in the division.
Although Woodburn has been used 30 times in the Championship so far this season, only 11 of them have come in the starting line-up with just one goal and two assists managed so far.
Ultimately, his return hasn’t been good enough, and with just two starts coming in his last seven games, it seems that Woodburn is going to have to prove a lot to Lowe by the end of the campaign.
Preston and Woodburn return to action tomorrow at home to Cardiff City, with kick-off at 3pm.
