Preston boss Ryan Lowe has admitted that youth team talent Dana de Oliveira Amaral is training with the North End first-team for the first time today.
Lowe has shown a willingness to bring youth team players into his first-team training sessions and even into matchday plans.
Mikey O’Neill is the leading name in that regard having made two first-team appearances under Lowe in recent weeks.
O’Neill’s rise can now serve as inspiration to other young players – and it looks like Preston have a great crop of young players.
North End’s Under-19’s have won the double this season, securing the EFL Youth Alliance League title last month.
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Earlier this week, Preston added the EFL Youth Alliance Cup with a 4-1 thrashing of Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
O’Neill was on the scoresheet in that game but a number of other young players are highly-rated too.
Jacob Slater, Harry Nevin, Josh Sera, Noah Mawene and Finlay Cross-Adair have all shown potential in the Preston system.
It’s down to Lowe to get the best out of them and he has now spotted something in 18-year-old Amaral.
A midfielder or right back, Amaral could fit into Lowe’s 3-5-2 as a wing back; we know how Lowe loves to turn midfielders into wing backs.
Amaral has been with Preston since the Under-12’s and has seemingly caught Lowe’s eye.
The Preston boss has admitted that Amaral is training with Preston’s first-team for the first time today.
Lewis Coulton and Aaron Bennett have joined Amaral in training too, but Lowe has spoken particularly highly of Amaral.
Lowe claims Amaral has stood out of late and now has a chance to show his quality both today and tomorrow.
This is what Preston fans have wanted for a while now and it’s great to see Lowe offering this pathway from youth to first-team football.
Hopefully we see many more of these young players in first-team reckoning in the near future, with Amaral potentially the next to step up.