Preston North End have once again come close to a top-six finish, bu have once again missed out.
Preston find themselves in 11th place of the Championship table after a 4-1 defeat at Sheffield United last time out. The Lilywhites are five points outside the top-six, and with one game of the season remaining, Preston’s season is over.
A disappointing end to the campaign has really brought the club’s long-term vision into the spotlight, with Ryan Lowe’s recent comments regarding his future highlighting that.
The summer ahead could hold a lot of change both on and off the pitch for Preston, with a number of players out of contract.
Who’s out of contract?
Preston have some long-serving names out of contract in the summer in Greg Cunningham and Daniel Johnson.
Summer signings Robbie Brady and Ben Woodburn are currently out of contract in the summer and so too is January signing Josh Onomah.
Matthew Olosunde also sees his contact expire in the summer.
Who might be retained?
Lowe and Preston certainly have some difficult decisions to make on the aforementioned players.
One certainty though might be Olosunde leaving – he’s made just two league appearances since signing ahead of last season, featuring just once in the Carabao Cup this time round.
Elsewhere, all of Brady, Johnson, Cunningham, and Woodburn have all been useful players this season, if a bit uninspiring at times, so new deals for each of these players doesn’t seem out of the ordinary – Woodburn is the youngest and he’s also the only one with a one-year option, so it seems likely that he’ll be staying.
Onomah meanwhile has perhaps started slower than he would’ve liked. It’s taken a while for him to get into first-team contention but he’s playing regularly now, and after a full pre-season he could be ready to hit the ground running, so a new deal for him seems like a real possibility.
There’s certainly some big calls for Lowe to make at Preston this summer – his side take on Sunderland in their final game of the season next week.
