Preston offer disgraced former Blackburn striker chance to atone

Having plied his trade in the Barclays Premier League and the Scottish Premier League, El Hadji Diouf will be wondering just where it went wrong this morning.

The controversial striker is a free agent following the termination of his contract at Blackburn Rovers last week and an old friend is hoping to lend a hand to the Senagalese striker.

Preston North End have offered Diouf the opportunity to train with the squad and while the League One club may be just a short hop from Blackburn, the standard of football is a long way from the Premier League

Preston manager Phil Brown has also suffered a fall from grace following a season in the Premier League managing Hull and after failing to secure Preston’s status as a Championship club last season, Brown now finds himself in League One.

“Dioufy is a good friend of mind and he’s keeping himself fit here,” said Brown.

“If I could sign him, we’d be on to an absolute winner, but that’s not the reason for us working together.”

“It’s a win-win situation as far as I see it. Dioufy is working to keep himself fit unyil he gets himself fixed up with a new club, and we’re getting the benefit of having a very talented player training with us for a short while.”

Brown and Diouf are friends from their time at Bolton Wanderers when Brown was an assistant to Sam Allardyce.

While Diouf’s wage demands will halt a move to Preston, it’s a positive sign for the Lilywhites that their manager is able to tempt players of Diouf’s class to the club, even if it is just to train with them.

Preston were the pre-season favourites to win League One but an average start has seen their title odds lengthened to 7/1.

Yeovil travel to Deepdale on Friday night and Preston are the 8/13 favourites and a win would put Preston three points behind the table toppers.