Preston North End’s strikers this season have had mixed fortunes in terms of goals scored. Will Keane has been the standout forward with nine goals, whilst Milutin Osmajic has scored four times, in his debut campaign in England.
Emil Riis and Ched Evans have yet to get off the mark after lengthy injuries, and Layton Stewart has barely had a sniff of action.
Fans are always keen to see younger players come through the ranks but strikers Mikey O’Neill and Finlay Cross-Adair haven’t progressed as hoped. Ryan Lowe recently said the club are finding an exit strategy for O’Neill, something which younger players such as Jacob Holland-Wilkinson have had to deal with in recent years.
Holland-Wilkinson featured on the bench seven times in total for Preston, during the 2020/21 season under Alex Neil. He never made it on the pitch however but did make four appearances during a loan spell with AFC Fylde.
The striker was released in the summer of 2022 before being signed by Stoke City. Holland-Wilkinson would go on to be managed by Alex Neil again and made 15 appearances in Premier League 2, the development league in this country for the Under 21 teams.
His stay with The Potters only lasted a year though and last summer he signed with Lancaster City in the 7th tier on the English football pyramid. After three goals in 21 games for The Dolly Blues, the 21-year-old has now joined his home town club Bury.
The Shakers are now playing in the ninth tier after reforming after their much publicised financial difficulties in the past. Holland-Wilkinson started his Bury career in style by scoring a hat-trick from the bench in their 10-1 win over Skelmersdale United; a team managed by former Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda.
Bury are top of their league at the moment, and will be hoping to climb up the ranks as quickly as possible. For Bury-born Holland-Wilkinson he couldn’t have got off to a better start, and will be hoping to get back up the leagues himself too.