If you look at Preston North End's squads in recent years, you'll notice a trend that the majority of their players tend to be British and Irish-born.

PNE haven't explored the foreign market much in recent years - even when players like Simon Makienok and Marnick Vermijl have come into the club it has been after spells at English sides - but it's one they made a breakthrough in last year.

That's when Emil Riis came to the club from Danish side Randers back in October, and it may open the doors to a new recruitment drive that was prominent in the early 2000's - mainly under Craig Brown's management.

In that period, North End had many talented overseas players - some of whom became cult heroes at Deepdale - but who makes it into the top 10 foreign players for PNE?

Take a look at our gallery and find out who makes it - do you agree?

The Icelandic striker wasn't a regular for North End in his three years at the club, but he was still a cult hero for his tiresome work up-front.

Gunnlaugsson only scored two goals for North End in his whole time there but they didn't need his goals at the time - Jon Macken was firing them in from all angles and so were the likes of David Healy.

Bjarki featured less as PNE were promoted to the second tier and eventually returned to his native Iceland - leaving with not a good scoring record but a lot of miles covered and he won the hearts of fans.

The most recent player to play for North End to be on this list, Bauer hasn't even completed two seasons yet at the club but he's proven to be a colossus at the back.

North End snagged him from Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2019 and he formed a great partnership with Ben Davies last season, proving to be a real bargain pick-up for the club.

Disaster struck in December though as the German was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an achilles injury - PNE have missed his leadership and presence at the back which has led to a lot more goals being conceded and fans are hoping he returns the same player next season.

Phil Brown brought the little-known Stuckmann in on a free transfer a few months into the 2011/12 season, and even though he didn't get a full season under his belt, the German giant won the club's Player of the Year award for his performances.

Stuckmann started to get less game-time under Graham Westley though, and that continued under Simon Grayson, although he returned to the team for a run of games in the 2014/15 campaign.

He left Deepdale in 2015 for Doncaster, but he was a cult hero by the end of his time at the club and you could not fault his efforts between the sticks.

Wright came to England as a teenager and was picked up by North End, coming through their youth academy to become a regular first-team player.

Whilst he played most of his games for PNE in League One, Wright not only developed into a solid second tier centre-back but also an international one, and he currently has 24 caps to his name for Australia.

Due to coming through the academy, Wright was well-liked by fans but they saw his 2017 move to Bristol City as a sideways step - and his aspirations of playing in the Premier League haven't quite worked out just yet as he's in League One with Sunderland - but he was a good player for PNE all the same.

North End took a punt on a little-known Finnish goalkeeper back in 1995 - and he ended up staying for eight years.

Tepi was a mainstay between the sticks at Deepdale for a number of years, winning the Player of the Year award in 1999 as North End lost out in the League One play-off semi-finals, but was still around to be the main man in goal when promotion was secured a year later.

Moilanen did make the odd mistake - the ball rolling under his foot at Carrow Road will still haunt some PNE fans and probably Tepi himself - but he made a lot of good contributions to North End and they cannot go unnoticed.

One for the veteran PNE fans, Marston was watched by an English-based scout back in his native Australia when he was picked up by North End, and he spent five years in Lancashire.

He was an ever-present centre-half for the club and he appeared in the 1954 FA Cup Final as North End lost out to West Bromwich Albion.

Marston's talent was such that Arsenal were rumoured to make a £80,000 bid for him, but he returned to Australia in 1955 because of homesickness and remained there.

Bailey Wright ended up following in his footsteps years later as an Aussie defender, but Marston's legacy leaves him higher on this list.

Davis was a product of Craig Brown's ability to spot a talented foreign player, with the Jamaica international arriving at Deepdale in the summer of 2003 initially on loan.

He was powerful, quick and skilful, and he was at North End at a time where there were several top centre-backs like Youl Mawene and Chris Lucketti vying for a starting spot.

Davis won out in the end though - his best season coming in the 2005/06 campaign where PNE lost out to Leeds in the play-off semi-finals - but with the Jamaican at the back they kept 24 clean sheets and Davis was named both the Fans' and Player's Player of the Year.

He deserved a crack at the Premier League and Sheffield United snapped him up for £3 million that summer, but he wouldn't make the same impact as he did at Deepdale.

Lewis was already an established American international when he arrived at PNE in 2002, having spent two unsuccessful seasons at Fulham.

A drop in division got the best out of the left winger though, spending three seasons at Deepdale and making 111 league appearances at the club.

Lewis just had a touch of class about him with excellent delivery, and he helped the Lilywhites to the play-off final in 2005, where they were defeated by West Ham.

That was the American's last contribution for the club as he moved on to Leeds United, who he scored for in the following season's play-offs against PNE.

Having been Derby's Player of the Year in 2004, Mawene made the move further north to Deepdale and established himself as one of PNE's best foreign players ever.

The Frenchman was such a smooth operator on and off the ball, and whilst he was never the quickest he always had the positional skills and reading of the game to make him a top-level Championship defender.

Mawene played 174 times in the league for North End and even a serious knee injury in 2006 couldn't stop him from being a mainstay after he recovered.

There was a bit of disappointment when he left for Aberdeen in 2010, having only been offered a one-year deal with PNE, but he still went down as one of the best of that particular era to play for the club.

There's only one player that can top this list and it's the man who scored so many good goals for PNE.

North End capitalised on Hearts' lack of finances in 2002 to bring the Jamaican to Deepdale, and he treated fans to 27 league goals in 58 outings over the next two years, dazzling everyone with his footwork and trickery.

Unfortunately knee troubles would mean that fans didn't get to see Fuller take it to that next level - not at North End anyway - his best years came years later at Stoke City as he hit double figures in the top flight in the 2008-09 season.

His contributions to PNE though were fantastic and he's fully deserving of top spot.