Preston North End manager pleased for forward after injury troubles and starring role against West Bromwich Albion

The Irishman started the game in a front two alongside Emil Riis and was important for the Lilywhites in linking the midfield to the attack.

It was the first start for the 28-year-old since the first pre-season game of the summer where he pulled up early on with an Achilles injury. Since then he has been on a road to getting back into the starting XI, coming on as a sub against Sheffield United before the international break before being left out entirely last week against Sunderland.

PNE boss Lowe spoke to Maguire after the disappointment of not making the matchday squad against the Black Cats but has been pleased with what he has seen on the training pitch.

He said: “I'm pleased for the kid because I brought him to Sunderland at the weekend and he was the spare man.

"I had a chat with him on Monday morning and I said to him that it's going to happen, Ched Evans and Bambo Diaby were the spare men on Wednesday, unfortunately you can only have 18, they've just got to knuckle down.

"I said to him to keep going because he has been fantastic in training, he's been scoring goals, getting on the front foot, pressing, sprinting. I thought last season he was a little bit worried but he's done some work with a sprinting coach that we had in earlier on in pre-season and he's been following a programme.”

With a trip to second placed Norwich City on the horizon, Lowe may have to manage Maguire’s workload but he was quick to heap the praise on North End’s no.24 for his resilience.

He said: "The credit has to go to Seani to be solid and resolute in keeping going. He's forgotten the past and now he's got to work as hard as he did on Wednesday to stay in the team or to find himself in the team.

"We have to be careful with him, he's only played one game in a while. We'll have to manage him a bit but I thought his performance on Wednesday was fantastic so fair play.”