Preston goalkeeper Mathew Hudson is set to become a free agent this summer and doesn’t appear to be covering himself in glory at Bamber Bridge.
North End face a major summer in terms of goalkeeping upheaval.
Daniel Iversen’s loan stay from Leicester City will come to an end whilst there are concerns about Declan Rudd’s long-term status after a difficult run with injury.
Connor Ripley and Hudson are both out of contract this summer meaning Preston may end up needing one, two, maybe even three goalkeepers this summer.
Hudson has been kept around at Preston despite never really threatening pushing for a first-team role.
Instead, Hudson has mostly been viewed as a homegrown option behind the main goalkeepers, suitable for a bench role without nearing Championship action.
Hudson turns 24 this summer and has only ever played once for Preston’s first team.
Hudson may have hoped for a brighter future under Ryan Lowe; after all, the now-Preston boss signed Hudson on loan for Bury back in 2018.
That doesn’t look likely though, and Hudson currently finds himself on loan at Bamber Bridge. Brig play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, which is the seventh tier of English football.
Hudson needs to shine at that kind of level to have any chance of staying at Preston but it isn’t going so well.
In February, Hudson was sent off for handling the ball outside the penalty area just 20 minutes into his Bamber Bridge debut against Whitby Town.
On Tuesday night, Hudson was given another chance to shine for Brig but it went badly again.
Hudson started for Brig against Atherton Collieries and was seemingly at fault for the opening goal in a 2-0 defeat.
Brig’s Twitter account is pretty honest, and they sent out a message that Hudson seemed to drop a ‘real goalkeeping error’ as he failed to deal with a cross and the ball ended up in the net.
It sounds like pretty slapstick stuff, but with Hudson playing for a new North End contract, the goalkeeper probably won’t see the funny side.