If any player can feel a little hard done by over his time at Preston North End, it may be Hearts winger Josh Ginnelly.
PNE pounced to sign Ginnelly back in January 2019, paying a nominal fee to snap him up from Walsall.
21 at the time of his arrival, Ginnelly was seen as a decent prospect after previously being in the Burnley ranks.
We never really got to see Ginnelly in action though as he struggled to break through at Deepdale.
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Ginnelly made five consecutive substitute appearances at the end of the 2018-19 season but made just one Championship appearance in the next season.
Remarkably, Ginnelly’s only start for PNE actually came as a left back as Alex Neil experimented with him against Hull City in an EFL Cup tie.
A brief loan to Bristol Rovers materialised in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic took over.
PNE then loaned Ginnelly to Hearts, which became a permanent move in 2021 as his two-and-a-half-year spell as a PNE player ended with just nine appearances.
Ginnelly is now shining in Scotland though and has become an important player at Tynecastle.
The 25-year-old scored twice on Saturday afternoon, helping Hearts beat Callum Davidson’s St. Johnstone 3-0.
Ginnelly was part of a front three for Hearts – a far cry from being shoved in at left back!
That takes Ginnelly’s record for the season to seven goals and two assists in 21 league games for Hearts this season.
Teammate Andy Halliday has now raved about Ginnelly, telling Open Goal that he is always a threat because he has so much pace and is always running in behind defences.
“He is the one in our team that always does that in games – stretching it for us, running in behind, he’s always a threat, he’s rapid,” said Halliday.
PNE are woefully one-paced at the moment and whilst Ginnelly may never have made the grade at North End, a player with his skillset is desperately needed at Deepdale.
Ginnelly is out of contract this summer and is surely on course for a new deal.
Football Scotland note that, excluding the Old Firm games, Hearts are unbeaten in 13 games with Ginnelly as a starter, winning 10 and drawing three.
It’s nice to see Ginnelly impressing in Scotland and director of football Joe Savage – formerly of PNE himself – will be delighted to have benefited from North End letting the winger go.