Former captain Kevin Nicholls still has a future at Preston North End - if he can get fit.

The midfielder has hardly featured in Alan Irvine's first team after asking to be relieved of the armband so he could concentrate on his form shortly after the new boss's arrival at Deepdale.

And a succession of injuries together with poor weather hampered his fitness level and has seen him left him out of the matchday 16 - even though Preston's first team squad is only 21 strong.

Irvine also revealed this week that Nicholls struggles to train on artificial surfaces - presumably because of the risk of aggravating previous injuries.

But when asked if Nicholls still had a future at the club, he said: "Absolutely. We have a very small squad. We need a bigger squad and I'm not bringing players in for the players we have got, they are in addition to the current squad."

Irvine followed up the capture of midfielder Richard Chaplow from West Brom and striker Chris Brown from Norwich - both of whom starred in the 1-0 win over Watford at Deepdale on Saturday - by signing Aberdeen defender Michael Hart on a pre-contract agreement this week.

Irvine has promised more signings before the end of January.

The team climbed off the bottom of the table with victory over Watford but it was the manner of the victory which gave many North End fans heart.

Irvine said: "We were really good throughout the team. We performed well and our concentration levels were good, the shape of team was good, we were competitive and determined.

"We passed the ball well, the wide players did a great job but they got a lot of good service and we played with a great deal of energy."

Victory at Stoke on Saturday could lift the team out of the bottom three - but they will be up against North End old boys Ricardo Fuller, Richard Cresswell and Danny Pugh.