Scotland defender Ryan Porteous has joined Preston North End on loan until the end of the season.
The 25-year-old made the switch from EFL Championship rivals Watford on deadline day.
Porteous joined the Hornets in January 2023 and has made 25 appearances in all competitions this campaign.
The centre back - who began his career at Hibernian - will link up with former boss Paul Heckinbottom at Deepdale.
Read more:
“I’m really pleased we’ve managed to bring Ryan in," Heckinbottom told the club website. "He’s a player I know well from my time at Hibernian and I’m looking forward to working with him again.
“We’re unfortunately going to be missing Jordan Storey for a while through injury, so it’s a position which we wanted to cover and we’ve managed to do that by adding quality with Ryan.
“He’s an international defender with experience of playing regularly in the Championship, so he’ll be a good addition for us between now and the end of the season.”
Porteous said: “I’m delighted. It’s all come about quite fast. When the manager spoke to me, having worked with him before at Hibs, I was pretty sure that I was going to come here.
“I'm looking forward to it. I think at the age I am now, I need a consistent run of games and a healthy environment. I feel that Preston can provide that right now.”
