NORTH End set out to Gillingham on Saturday hoping to leave Darren Byfield ruing his decision to turn down a move to Deepdale.

The 28-year-old striker, who had a loan spell at Deepdale when David Moyes was still in charge, tried to win over fans at the Gills when he reckoned he moved to Kent ahead of Preston and Walsall.

He switched in the summer after being released by Sunderland, which is where he was last seen by Preston fans during the dramatic 3-3 draw at the Stadium of Light in March.

Byfield, who failed to impress management during his loan spell at Deepdale from Aston Villa, said: "Preston and Walsall were interested, plus one other club, but I got more excited about Gillingham.

"The quality of the squad here is very good and this club is on the way up."

He wants to build on his 14-goal haul last season, and scored one of the two goals against Leeds on Tuesday.

With Preston adopting a more defensive style of play away from home they will hope to keep Byfield at bay when they make the long journey south.

Craig Brown said: "There are some top class attackers in this league and we have to make sure our defence stands up to that.

"It won't be a big change but I don't think we will be as adventurous away from home this season.

"We want to get goals from all over the field as well as tightening up at the back. Doing this will mean we should be able to close down games much more quickly."

Quite how long one of Preston's most adventurous players, Ricardo Fuller, remains a Lilywhite still remains to be seen.

He's out in America seeing a specialist about his knee -- the one which scuppered his Premiership move to Portsmouth.

A selfless performance in the face of cynical challenges from Watford at the weekend silenced the boo-boys, and Preston are now waiting to see what the verdict from the doctors Stateside is.

If he's given the all-clear, he should figure against Gillingham on Saturday, unless Portsmouth, represented by Jim Smith at Deepdale last weekend, swoop back in with an offer for him.

Several clubs are understood to have had representives watching Fuller at the match.