Preston North End have had an extremely solid start to the 2022-23 season, but they cannot afford to rest on their laurels when it comes to transfers in the final few weeks of the summer window.

After two stalemates to open the campaign, a 4-1 drubbing of Championship rivals Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup seems to have released the shackles, and a trip to face Luton Town and coming away from Kenilworth Road with a 1-0 victory was even more impressive.

It is a stadium that the Lilywhites tend to not do well at judging from recent history, so Brad Potts' wonder-strike certainly was welcome.

Potts doesn't have any competition currently at right wing-back, with that position one of two that Ryan Lowe wants to strengthen before the deadline.

The other is up-front - Troy Parrott has already arrived on loan from Tottenham to partner Emil Riis up-front, but the back-up options of Sean Maguire and Ched Evans barely scored last season, so it's clear that North End need something different.

The return of Callum Robinson from West Brom has been rumoured, but as it stands it looks like PNE have reached an impasse when it comes to a transfer fee for the Republic of Ireland international.

When it comes to other options, there doesn't appear to be any obvious ones, so it could be that North End take a punt on a young forward from the lower leagues.

It's what they did with Maguire back in 2017 when he was a 23-year-old, and his first season was electric before hamstring damage scuppered his one quality trait - his speed.

If PNE want to use a similar blueprint to that, then a player who is the same age now from League Two who could have the abilities to really step up is Salford City's Brandon Thomas-Asante.

A product of the MK Dons academy, Thomas-Asante had to build himself back up following his release in 2019 - after initially joining the Ammies' development squad, he was soon in with the seniors, but as an inexperienced attacker he showed inconsistencies, scoring 11 league goals in his first two seasons in 62 outings.

The 2021-22 League Two campaign was better for Thomas-Asante, netting 13 times in all competitions - 11 of those in the league - whilst operating as both a striker and a winger.

It's the form that he is showing early on in the 2022-23 season for Salford under new head coach Neil Wood that is most impressive though, with four goals in as many games to his name, as well as two assists.

By no means is it reactionary on the back of his scintillating form that he could be a good option for North End, but it's perhaps a chance he deserves.

WhoScored lists his strengths as dribbling and finishing and that's the kind of forward Preston need - one who can either drop deep or wide and take the ball past a man before shooting from different ranges.

Another interesting caveat is that Thomas-Asante, who turns 24 in December, has less than a year remaining on his contract, so this could be the perfect time to test Salford's resolve with an offer.

It's not exactly a certainty that he would be able to cope with the step up, but Thomas-Asante has the attributes to excite fans if he secures a move to the Championship - and PNE should be looking right at him.