Preston North End boss heaps praise on defender after Bristol City draw
The visitors fell behind at Ashton Gate just after half-time when Sam Bell scored for the hosts. However, the away side were able to find an equaliser through new signing Will Keane on 86 minutes.
Preston will be satisfied with the point and are back in action on Tuesday against in the Carabao Cup against Salford City at home. They then face Sunderland at Deepdale next Saturday.
Lowe was delighted with Best’s performance against Bristol City and said afterwards: “He’s been brilliant up until a week ago when he signed his first pro contract, he’s obviously a baby isn’t he. I thought he handled himself really well. He produced some great deliveries.
“Low and behold he gets cramp late on, but he’s still only a baby. He worked his socks off, his intelligence, passing range and quality on the ball is different class.
“I think you only have to look at my record, I won’t hesitate to put them in regardless of how old they are. He’s definitely deserved a place in the team so far.”
Preston will be excited for the future with Best and he could be in line for plenty of game time this term. The 17-year-old has risen up through their academy ranks and has been a regular for the club at various youth levels over recent years.
Lowe will be wary of his tender age and won’t want to rush anything with him. The fact he started against Bristol City shows how highly rated he is though.
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Fernandez spent last season on loan with PNE as Manchester United sent him out for first-team experience.
The Spaniard – formerly of Real Madrid – had never made a senior appearance before heading to Deepdale.
This was quite the coup for PNE as Bundesliga clubs were thought to be interested in signing Fernandez.
Fernandez came in to compete with former United man Robbie Brady as the starting left wing back under Ryan Lowe.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a hugely productive season with PNE, racking up 27 starts and 12 substitute appearances in the Championship.
That has been massively beneficial for Fernandez’s development and PNE fans would love to see him come back for another year at Deepdale.
Fernandez has admitted that North End have been trying to re-sign him this summer but he wants to test himself at a higher level.
PNE fans have largely accepted that stance but seeing him join Burnley would be tough to swallow.
Sky Sports claim that Burnley are looking to snap up Fernandez this summer as Vincent Kompany targets a new left back.
The Clarets saw Ian Maatsen excel on loan from Chelsea last season but he looks unlikely to return this term.
That means Kompany and co are looking at other options with Fernandez one of them.
North End’s rivalry with Burnley maybe wasn’t what it was in the 2000’s but it would still sting to see a PNE fan favourite head to Turf Moor.
We went through a similar situation last summer when Burnley were heavily linked with signing Sepp van den Berg after his PNE loan spell.
That deal didn’t end up happening and PNE fans will now hope that Fernandez ends up elsewhere this summer as Burnley consider their left back options.
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