Preston North End’s January transfer priority becomes clear after Leeds United win: View | OneFootball

Highlights

The pressure on Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe has been very evident - so what a relief a 2-1 win over Leeds United on Boxing Day would have been.

The Lilywhites had a simply incredible start - if not a fortunate one at times - to the current campaign, with six wins from their first seven Championship matches leaving them top of the table in September ahead of the big spenders of the second tier.

Following a draw with Rotherham that month though, things started to unravel for North End, and going into the visit of a Leeds side who had just stuck four goals past promotion rivals Ipswich Town, they had won just three of their previous 16 matches, conceding 35 goals in that period as well.

It made the visit of Daniel Farke's side across the Pennines a scary thought, but against the odds, PNE ran out winners - even if the visitors did self-implode with the red card of Illan Meslier early on in the second half.

Millar stands out in win over Leeds

The one player that had everyone talking though for the right reasons was Liam Millar, who showed the very good side of his game with a standout showing for the Lilywhites.

There was confusion among PNE fans on Friday evening when the Canada international winger was left out of the starting 11 against Swansea City, and he ended up coming off the bench in South Wales to score a stunning goal to level the contest up in the second half.

And whilst he couldn't produce more heroics to grab North End a win that night as they went down to a 2-1 defeat, he made up for lost time against Leeds, where he had the beating of teenage sensation Archie Gray time and time again.

After a few failed attempts on goal, Millar finally made something happen in the second half as he planted a perfect cross onto the head of captain Alan Browne to open the scoring.

And then, in the 89th minute as he collected a ball from Andrew Hughes on the flank, he beat Gray once more to burst into the box, jinked to the side of Mateo Joseph and curled an unstoppable strike beyond Karl Darlow and into the far corner of the goal.

It was a goal worthy of winning any match and after some inconsistent performances throughout the season, Millar is finally starting to show a consistent goal threat when given the chance to run at defenders and make things happen.

PNE need to sort out permanent deal for Millar ASAP

Going into the January transfer window, Ryan Lowe probably had a few positions that he wanted to strengthen if he could do, with perhaps a left wing-back on the agenda.

However, the 4-1-4-1 formation he used against Leeds was very effective, and it could mean a change of what Lowe actually needs.

The priority now though simply has to be trying to tie Millar down to a full-time deal at Deepdale - no matter how much it costs.

North End spent plenty of money in the summer, with Milutin Osmajic and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen arriving for significant fees, but Millar was just a straight loan deal with Swiss side Basel, as confirmed by club director Peter Ridsdale, so there is no fixed fee that the Lilywhites can trigger to make it a permanent deal.

Millar is contracted to Basel until the summer of 2025, so going into January he has one-and-a-half years remaining on his deal over in Switzerland, but Ridsdale made the recent presumption that Millar would not be going back to mainland Europe at the end of the season.

His good form will see other clubs be interested, no doubt, but North End must now get to the negotiating table with Basel in January to try and tie Millar down to a long-term deal - he is perhaps the most exciting player since Aiden McGeady to pull on the PNE shirt with the things he can do and if it takes a seven-figure fee to land his services, then Craig Hemmings needs to push the boat out.