Ryan Porteous says Hibs connection sold Scotland star on Preston North End switch
The chance to work with Paul Heckingbottom again sold Ryan Porteous on a loan move to Preston.
Former Hibs star Porteous ended a three year spell with fellow EFL Championship side Watford to sign a loan deal at Deepdale until the end of the season, where he could form an all-Scottish partnership at the back alongside the uncapped Liam Lindsay - a childhood school teammate of Andy Robertson's. Despite being a regular for Watford, Porteous has said that he's relishing the chance of a fresh start working under a manager in Heckingbottom who knows him inside out.
The 25-year-old told PNE's website: "I’m delighted. It’s all come about quite fast. When the manager spoke to me, having worked with him before at Hibs, I was pretty sure that I was going to come here. “I'm looking forward to it. I think at the age I am now, I need a consistent run of games and a healthy environment. I feel that Preston can provide that right now."
Heckingbottom, who saw his spell at Easter Road last just nine months before going on to guide Sheffield United to promotion to the English Premier League, added: "I’m really pleased we’ve managed to bring Ryan in. He’s a player I know well from my time at Hibernian and I’m looking forward to working with him again.
“We’re unfortunately going to be missing Jordan Storey for a while through injury, so it’s a position which we wanted to cover and we’ve managed to do that by adding quality with Ryan. He’s an international defender with experience of playing regularly in the Championship, so he’ll be a good addition for us between now and the end of the season.”
Porteuos hasn't played for Scotland since being sent off in the first game of Euro 2024 against Germany, but was called up to the squad for the Nations League deciders in November. The National side are next in action when they face Greece in the Nations League playoffs on March 20.
