It's fair to say it's been an eventful past few years for Preston North End.

Following relegation from the Championship back in the 2010-11 season, the Lancashire club went close to securing a return to the second-tier of English football via the play-offs on several occasions.

They would eventually succeed in that search with a famous Wembley win over Swindon Town in 2015, and have since gone on to re-establish themselves comfortably in the Championship, going close to securing a spot in the play-offs at that level on several occasions.

There have been plenty of players who have made a positive impact at Deepdale during that time, but there are also several who have been far less successful when pulling on a Preston shirt in recent times.

Here, we take a look at six players who have rather flopped at Preston in recent years.

Signed in January 2012 as Preston looked to add some firepower in their push for promotion, Holroyd struggled to make that desired impact during his time at Deepdale.

In 20 appearances he scored just once for the club, and after being loaned to Macclesfield - then in the National League - for the first half of the 2012/13, Holroyd failed to make another appearance for North End, leaving the club following the expiration of his contract in the summer of 2013.

Having joined Preston in the summer of 2012 following the expiration of his contract with Liverpool, Amoo showed very few of the qualities you might now associate with the now-Premier League champions-elect during his time at Deepdale.

The winger failed to score or assist a single goal in the 17 league appearances he made for the club, and saw his contract terminated by mutual contract in January 2013, just over six months after he had joined the club.

May joined Preston in the summer of 2015 following their return the club's return to the Championship, with a prolific record in his native Scotland, and an encouraging season in English football's second-tier with Sheffield Wednesday already under his belt.

Things however would not work out in quite the same way during his time at Deepdale, where a serious injury restricted him to just 12 appearances and one goal in two seasons with Preston, before he returned to Scotland in 2017, where he has yet to rediscover his past goalscoring form.

Pringle joined Preston from Fulham on a three-year contract in the summer of 2016, having previously enjoyed an eye-catching four-year spell with Rotherham at both League One and Championship level.

There was however, to be no repeat of that for the winger at Deepdale. Pringle made just 12 appearances for the Lilywhites during his time at the club, failing to score or assist a single goal for the Lilywhites, while also spending time on loan in the lower leagues with Grimsby and Tranmere, before eventually being released by North End when his contract with the club expired last summer.

Having joined on a season-long loan from a club the size of Arsenal back in the summer of 2017, Preston fans may have been expecting more than the zero goals and assists in 11 appearances they got from Mavididi before his time at the club was cut short the following January.

What will have made this deal even stranger in the eyes of those associated with Preston is the attacker's subsequent move to Juventus, but with Mavididi currently on loan in the French top-flight with Dijon, it seems he will not be getting too many opportunities with the Italian giants in the immediate future.

Having joined Preston following from Shamrock Rovers in his native Ireland in the summer of 2018, Burke struggled to make an impact during his first few months at Deepdale, scoring just once in 12 appearances league appearances for the Lilywhites, before being loaned out to League One Gillingham, where he produced an identical record in league football.

Now back with Shamrock on loan, Burke could still have put things right at Preston with 18 months remaining on his contract at Deepdale, although North End's current form suggests he may not be needed to do that.