A future-shaping summer for North End

If you're a Preston fan, you'll know the 2024-25 season was not one for the faint-hearted.

We spent far too much of it glancing nervously over our shoulders, the play-off chatter of previous years replaced by the far less glamorous business of staying up. We got there - just - but not before the winds of change swept through Deepdale.

Ryan Lowe's early-season exit felt like the end of a chapter. In came Paul Heckingbottom, a man who wasted no time telling it straight: the Championship is a "crazy" division, and Preston needed to toughen up if we were going to survive in it.

This summer has been all about laying foundations. Pre-season friendlies might not make headlines, the results are something we and Heckingbottom should pay little interest in. We saw a mix of the old guard and new faces, with a few academy lads making appearances too.

The nine signings so far haven't been about flashy names; they've been about the right characters - something we've been good at over the past few years. Thierry Small's arrival, for example, brings pace and bite to a backline that will need both, and some potential to be a valuable asset.

Of course, we've said goodbye to a few too. It's never easy watching familiar names move on - it begs the question, are we going to miss those 12 goals from Emil Riis, or the leadership of Ryan Ledson? There's been a measured, not reckless approach to the window so far but I feel like we still need a little more.

As a fan, you can't help but dream — that's the deal we sign up for. I'm not predicting miracles but if we can sprinkle some creative sparkle and add a sharper edge up top, we might just swap those nervous glances down the table for ambitious ones up in what is the most competitive Championship we've seen in a long, long time.

For now, it's hope mixed with a bit of healthy caution — which, if you've followed Preston long enough, feels like home.