Former Preston North End boss Alex Neil has praised Brad Potts after reinventing himself under Ryan Lowe.
Neil pounced to sign Potts from Barnsley in January 2019, paying around £1.5million for the former Blackpool man.
Potts made a great start at Deepdale with goals against Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City and brought real energy from midfield, either centrally or from the right flank.
Injury problems held Potts back at the start of the 2019-20 season and many supporters started having huge doubts about him.
By November 2021, Potts was being ironically cheered off the pitch in a 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest and it looked like his PNE career was in danger of turning sour.
Everything changed upon Ryan Lowe’s appointment just a month later as he was converted into a wing back, completely salvaging his time at North End.
The 29-year-old has now racked up more than 200 appearances for North End and has become a fan favourite, marking a quite incredible turnaround.
Alex Neil on Brad Potts
Potts currently finds himself out through injury and it’s unclear just when he will be back.
Alan Browne is being pushed into a right wing back role to cover for Potts and Alex Neil feels PNE are missing Potts right now.
Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Neil suggested that Potts missing and Alan Browne playing out of position limits PNE.
Neil praised Potts for his energy and desire to get up and down the pitch, feeling that he has really benefitted from playing regularly.
Potts wanted to play in midfield under Neil but with strong competition for places, that just wasn’t possible – and he has now secured a key role as a wing back instead.
“I think they miss Brad Potts,” said Neil. “Brad made that position his own, the right wing back or full back, whatever they decide to play in terms of shape. I think he’s performed really well in the last 18 months and, for me, they’ll miss Brad being there and pushing Alan into the middle.”
“His legs are incredible, he can get up and down the pitch, he’s always had a goal in him as well and I think that a change of system has probably helped him more than anything else. Playing at wing back, it just lets him get up and down the pitch. They’ve got Liam Millar, who is more of a natural winger, on one side and Brad who will do the full shift on the other. Playing regularly has really helped him and when I was there, I think Brad wanted to play in the middle more because we played with wingers on the sides and it was a difficult midfield to get into.”
“You had Alan Browne, Daniel Johnson, Ben Pearson and Paul Gallagher, so yeah, it’s probably as tough as it gets at Championship level,” he added.
We would hope to see Potts back in action before the end of the season and the way he has turned around his PNE career is pretty unbelievable.
Potts certainly won’t have expected becoming a wing back when he joined PNE over five years ago, but he has certainly made the best of a difficult situation and fans appreciate his work rate and endeavour.