MICHAEL Appleton turned down a contract which would have made him one of the best paid players at Deepdale.

The midfielder was offered a new contract four months ago as his current deal expired at the end of the season but instead the 25-year-old chose to join First Division rivals West Bromwich Albion yesterday in a £750,000 deal.

"We had made Michael a really good offer that would have made him close to being the best paid player in the club but it was not enough," said boss David Moyes.

"There is no way we could have paid Michael what he asked for and we could not have paid his agent what he asked for.

"The agent has got to do his best for the client but you would hope you would not have to give the agent money for re-signing your own player.

"We had made it clear we didn't want to lose Michael and for the last couple of months have been trying for a new deal but he told me the other day he would not sign for the offer the club made him.

"From a business point of view we reluctantly accepted it. I think it is quite a good price for a player who is out of contract in a few months."

Moyes was keen to point out why North End hadn't sewn up a deal with the former Manchester United trainee earlier.

"We are a club who does our business quietly and we usually do contracts in good time. The reason we did not do it with Michael is that he had not really shown much form here until this season.

"In the final year he showed us what we hoped he would otherwise his contract would have been done along time ago.

"For the first three months of this season, Michael played really well, we were pleased with him, that is why we didn't want to lose him.

"However, his form recently has not been very good. Perhaps he's had contracts on his mind and that maybe distracted him a little."

"But I have always had a good relationship with Michael. He is first class. We tried for four months to keep him, even when we were in the top four or five in the division. It has been coming to a head and couldn't have gone much further." Moyes hasn't ruled out a new face to replace Appleton before tomorrow's match at Deepdale against Wolves which is already in doubt because of the hard pitch.

And, if it survives the weather, another regular face missing will be skipper Sean Gregan who had an operation yesterday to remove a piece of cartilage from his knee.

"He could be out for around six weeks," said Moyes.

Also back is striker Brian McBride and winger Iain Anderson who should start after shaking off a hamstring strain.

Wolves are the only team Preston have beaten in a dismal run of seven defeats in eight game. It was 1-0 at Molyneux -- Anderson scoring the winner.