Johnstone Rejoins Preston On Loan

Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is joining Preston North End on loan for the second time in his fledgling career, after helping his hometown team earn promotion to the Championship last season.

The 22-year-old has yet to make his competitive debut for the Reds but he has played for the first team on pre-season tours and has gained a wealth of experience in the Football League. Johnstone has made more than 70 appearances in total for temporary clubs Scunthorpe United (2011/12), Walsall (2012/13), Yeovil (2013/14), Doncaster Rovers (2013/14 and 2014/15) and Preston (2014/15).

The highlight of his CV so far must surely be the League One play-off final in May earlier this year; Johnstone kept a clean sheet at Wembley as Preston, a club his father Glenn played for, beat Swindon 4-0 to book their return to England's second tier. The man himself is pleased to be making a return to Deepdale and is keen to get some regular first-team football under his belt.

"I'm delighted to be back and hopefully I can start playing some games," he told Preston's official website. "It's great to be around the team at Manchester United, they are the biggest club in the world but, at the end of the day, I'm 22 years old and I have to think about myself a little bit and I need to be playing first-team football. I get to do that now in the Championship which is a great league to play in.

"Looking around the dressing room I think there are only two or three players that I don't know so that's good. Last time I didn't know anyone but I still settled in quite quickly, the lads and staff are really good. I know the defence, and I know Marnick Vermijl from United too so hopefully all is good this time around too.

"My last game for Preston was at Wembley, it only feels like it was yesterday," he added. "It was a great day, but now we've got to kick on. I've seen the results that the lads have been getting recently and hopefully we can carry that on."

Johnstone will be added to Simon Grayson's squad for one month and will be eligible to play in their next fixture, at home to Rotherham on Saturday 2 January.