New Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe has revealed that he's happy to see players given new contracts in return for hard work. 

Lowe took over from Frankie McAvoy who was sacked at the start of December and has already started to put his marker down.

Preston have a number of players out of contract in the summer including Patrick Bauer, Tom Barkhuizen and Scott Sinclair, while they have recently agreed a new two year deal with Andrew Hughes.

Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Lowe the importance of working hard and wants to reward those who perform consistently: “The ones who are performing on a weekly basis, we want to make sure we secure their contracts.

“They are governed by what we want to do, we want to make sure they are still hungry. The players whose contracts are up at the end of the season have still got six months so there is no major rush.

“I say to all players whether they are in contract or out of contract, do well by me as a manager and by the football club and I’ll make sure myself and the football club will do well by you."

Despite being in charge for over a month, Lowe has overseen just two games so far due to Covid disrupting their fixture schedule.

That however, hasn't stopped the former Plymouth and Bury manager from doing his research on his new side as he added: “When I got the job I did my homework and studied the group.

“I looked at the positions they could play in, the type of characters they are, the ones I could give a rollicking to, the ones I couldn’t do that to.
“I found out who I could pick the brains of around the training ground. It’s about progress and we have a plan and strategy of where we want to get to."
Having won both of their games under Lowe - 2-1 wins over Barnsley and Stoke - Preston currently sit 14th in the Championship table, nine points adrift of the play-off places. The Verdict It's a huge positive that Ryan Lowe is already stamping his authority on this side. Over the last few years, Preston haven't had a huge turnover in playing staff and it's clear that Lowe is keen to reignite their ambition. It will serve as motivation for some of the players to keep working hard to stay in the team and those that are in the fringes will work hard to get into the team. Any players who don't pick up the slack will be allowed to leave giving Lowe a core group of players who he knows he can trust. This will only serve as a plus in the long term for Lowe and Preston and allow them to build for an exciting future.