North End boss Billy Davies was reduced to watching the clock and praying his phone didn't ring as the Premiership's midnight transfer window approached.

A reported £10,000-a-week deal was put on the table in a bid to keep hotshot striker David Nugent at Deepdale after intense speculation linking him with a move to Everton, the club he supported as a boy.

North End's interpretation of the transfer deadline rules was that Football League clubs had to complete their transfers by 5pm yesterday, but the Premiership had until midnight to finish off their deals.

By the time the Citizen went to press, there had been no new arrivals at Deepdale -- other than midfielder Adam Nowland on Saturday on a free from Nottingham Forest.

In terms of departures, two other names have been in the frame: Dickson Etuhu to Everton and Tyrone Mears to Sunderland.

Davies is desperate to hang on to all of his squad following the departures of Eddie Lewis before the season started, and Richard Cresswell last week. Davies said: "I will be glad when the transfer window shuts because we need to keep our squad together. Losing Richard was a disappointment but something we have to deal with.

"We will keep on going with the squad we have got, and see where we can get.

"My understanding is that there have been no bids for our players, and I hope it stays that way.

"We have lost two very important players, Eddie Lewis and Richard Cresswell, and Preston are in a slight transitional phase at the moment."

If Nugent's comments after Monday's match were anything to go by he's content at North End and enjoying his football.

And Davies hopes the performance at Ipswich is something the side can build on once International fixtures are over.

He said: "It was a fantastic result and we fully deserved three points.

"We took our chances and played very well.

"I feel we've been playing well enough for a few weeks now. We've had a difficult start but there have been a lot of positives.

"I told the lads we just needed to keep doing what we've been doing."