Preston North End will still have room to manoeuvre in the free transfer market after submitting squad list to the EFL

Their final quota had to be confirmed to the EFL yesterday, and considering boss Ryan Lowe has spent this summer trimming the squad he inherited last season, there will be no problem accommodating the first-teamers who are currently on the club’s books.

Thirteen players who had previously made first team appearances were released over the summer, with a further four players, such as Izzy Brown who signed as a first team player, also allowed to leave.

In came six players – Freddie Woodman, Dai Cornell, Ben Woodburn, Robbie Brady, Troy Parrott and Alvaro Fernandez.

Last season both Joe Rafferty and Matthew Olosunde were left out of the 25-man squad, Rafferty in the summer and Olosunde in January, but it seems there will be no such need this time around.

Including the transfer listed Olosunde, Lowe has 22 players available to pick from his squad. Players under 21, who are contracted to PNE, do not need to be registered, but loanees Parrott and Fernandez do.

It leaves three openings to fill for Lowe, should he look to dip into the free agent market over the coming months.

There has been plenty of change in the squad since Lowe’s arrival and he has been pleased with the signings he’s made.

He said: "I'm very happy with the progress we've made, the squad now has a lot of balance in it. It was so imbalanced when I came through the door.

"We had players who were here just being here, that's not being disrespectful but we wanted to bring players in and they were brought in and all contributing to what we want. The club is in a better position, I think everyone knows that, the fans have come back and supported us.

"If you'd have asked me when I first came through the door if we'd have been able to do what we have so soon, I'd have probably said not this soon.”

PNE’s potential squad: Woodman, Fernández, Cunningham, Whiteman, Bauer, Lindsay, Browne, Evans, Johnson, Brady, McCann, Storey, Parrott, Hughes, Ledson, Riis, Woodburn, Olosunde, Diaby, Maguire, Cornell, Potts.