Paul Heckingbottom details key to Preston's transfer swoops for Aston Villa and Everton men

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PNE made four loan signings in the summer transfer window

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Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom was pleased to see hard work pay off in the loan market this summer.

It’s an avenue which has served both the Lilywhites, and their manager, well over the years. Last season, Kaine Kesler-Hayden won Player of the Year. The latest quartet of temporary recruits at Deepdale are Lewis Dobbin (Aston Villa), Alfie Devine (Spurs), Daniel Jebbison (Bournemouth) and Harrison Armstrong (Everton).

Dobbin and Devine have both scored a couple of goals each, and Heckingbottom is delighted with the attributes all four bring to the table. As far as convincing loan players to come to the club, it’s something PNE’s manager puts a lot of time into in order to try and fight off competition.

“I think you're probably better asking the players but from my point of view, when you're looking at your loan players you're bringing in, and it's easy for me to say this because it's true... Why would I think about wasting any of the budget, when you're working on fine margins?” said Heckingbottom.

“You've got to see them performing in your team, you've got to see them playing in the XI, you've got to see them contributing to help you win. That's all loan players want. They want to know that they're going to get game time. Also, I want to be really clear in my head how we're going to use them and what they're going to bring.

“We can show the players that, so they get a good understanding of how much we know about their game, them as lads, what they can bring to us and what we expect them to bring. And then also where we want to help them improve. Sometimes that's in line and really in sync with what they're asked to do at the parent club.

“Sometimes it's not, because we might be asking them to do a slightly different role. But all these messages, clarity, they get a good understanding of what's going to be expected of them. And then if they want to come, I'm delighted because we don't shy away from anything in terms of how hard it's going to be and what we expect.

“If they want to come, they've already bought into how we work and I think that's a really big thing. I wouldn't sign players if I'd not spoken to them and that process is not just for loan players, it's the same for the other lads as well. I just think we've worked hard. They've (loans) all wanted to come.

“They've all been desperate to come here. Same as the other signings, and that's back to me the point. We could’ve easily paid two million for some of these players we've brought in. Back to your questions at the start of the window, everyone would have been clapping their hands. It's the same player, we've just not paid two million pounds for him; we've got him for free.

“We've set the bar high in terms of what we've gone for, but we've had help from loan clubs with wages, we've convinced players who could’ve potentially had more money elsewhere but wanted to come to us. We've worked hard to get that and ultimately, they've bought in and wanted to come here, which is always the most important thing.”

One thing which stands out about this summer’s loan signings is the experience they have under their belt. As shown in January with Preston’s swoop for Jayden Meghoma, that is not the be-all-and-and-all for Heckingbottom. However, it did boost his belief in how well this quartet could perform in a North End shirt.

Heckingbottom told BBC Lancashire. “I'm not scared to take a first loan, but it is different. You have got to be patient but I've also had first loans that have been unreal.

“I think there's much more confidence in me taking these loans this year, from what I've witnessed on their previous loans, definitely, and conversations with other people who've worked with them.

“Alfie, for example, someone that we've probably all known about a long, long time. I felt how he played, not just how he played last season in Belgium, but how he acted on the pitch and how he carried himself - I said this to Alfie before he came, that convinced me that we needed him and he'd make us better.”

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