Tranmere's John Welsh agrees to join Preston North End

Preston have agreed to sign John Welsh after the midfielder rejected the offer of a new contract at Tranmere Rovers.

The 28-year-old, who was captain at Prenton Park, has signed a two-year deal, effective from 1 July.

Former Liverpool trainee Welsh said in April that he was keen to stay with Tranmere, for whom he played 49 times this season and scored three goals.

Preston boss Graham Westley is in the process of rebuilding his squad after allowing 21 players to leave last week.

Welsh made a handful of appearances for Liverpool before moving to Hull in 2006.

He also had loan spells at Chester, Carlisle and Bury before making a permanent switch to Tranmere in the summer of 2009.

He played a total of 149 times in three years with the League One club, scoring 11 goals.