The final weeks of the Championship season arguably mean more to loanee Josh Murphy than any other player Preston North End.
Sure, there are players whose futures are up in the air such as Scott Sinclair and Tom Barkhuizen, but Murphy really needs these last few weeks.
We know what we can expect from Sinclair and Barkhuizen but we’ve barely had chance to see Murphy in a Preston shirt.
The winger joined on loan from Cardiff City on deadline day, representing something of a coup for North End.
Murphy cost Cardiff £11million back in 2018 and arrived at Preston as a proven Championship player – something North End aren’t used to signing.
Unfortunately, with just a matter of games to go, we still haven’t seen Murphy start a game for Preston.
Frankie McAvoy mostly used Murphy from the bench and there have been a couple of injury problems for him too.
Murphy did get 45 minutes against Luton Town last week, playing in an unfamiliar right wing back role under Ryan Lowe.
Given that Preston don’t play with wingers, Murphy has to show versatility to earn a contract. A free agent this summer, Murphy is essentially playing for a North End deal.
If Murphy needs some pointers on how to switch from being a winger to a wing back, his twin brother Jacob can be a valuable resource.
Jacob, just like Josh, was a winger at Norwich City before landing a Premier League move. Newcastle pounced in 2017, just a year before Josh joined Cardiff.
Previously a flying winger, Murphy ended up having to reinvent himself as a wing back to secure first-team football at Newcastle under Steve Bruce.
The 27-year-old certainly did well in that role, emerging as a solid Premier League wing back before returning to a winger role under Eddie Howe.
Josh may now need to follow in his twin brother’s footsteps and emerge as a wing back in order to secure a long-term Preston future; we really are in the last chance saloon in that regard.