Hibs connection proves key to transfer deadline day done deal as ex-boss signs star he worked with in Leith

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The pair worked together at Hibs and that has been deemed crucial to a transfer deadline day deal.

A Hibs connection has been declared key to Ryan Porteous sealing his loan move to Preston North End.

The central defender has left Watford on a temporary basis until the end of the English Championship season. A product of the Hibs academy, he linked up with the Hornets two years ago after more than 150 appearances for his boyhood club. Porteous has also established himself as a regular for Steve Clarke’s Scotland team.

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During time at Easter Road, the defender worked with Paul Heckingbottom during the former Leeds United and Sheffield United’s tenure at the helm. Heckingbottom’s time at Hibs wasn’t a long one but he still managed to strike up a relationship with Porteous that has lasted to this day, and now proven key to a Preston signing.

His new recruit says that previous Easter Road experience with Heckingbottom helped assure him he was making the correct deadline day decision. He 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.”

Heckingbottom said: “I’m really pleased we’ve managed to bring Ryan in. He’s a player I know well from my time at Hibernian and I’m looking forward to working with him again.

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“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.”

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