Preston North End are delighted to confirm the appointment of Alex Neil as manager on a rolling 12-month contract.

The 36-year-old will be officially unveiled at a press conference at Deepdale late on Wednesday afternoon.

The Scot will officially take up the role on Thursday, taking a watching brief at Friday’s friendly against Bamber Bridge, before taking charge of training once the team head on their training camp in Ireland.

The club’s current first team staff of first team coach Steve Thompson, goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly, fitness coach Tom Little and physio Matt Jackson will all remain at the club as part of the new management team.

Speaking about becoming the new Lilywhites boss Alex said: “I’ve looked at this opportunity and seen that the club has made progress for four years running and I am looking forward to trying to continue that progress.

“It is a really good challenge for me. I have been involved in a lot of big games in a short space of time and hopefully we can be involved in a lot more big games here at Preston North End.

“Taking over a job in this situation means we have a confident squad that have been performing well over the last couple of seasons. There will not be a task of trying to lift the players, they have shown they are a good team and they can compete at this level and my job is to come in and try and help them improve as individuals and improve us as a club and hopefully try and push further up the league.

“The ultimate aim for any club in the Championship is to try and get promoted at some stage. The club has been stable in the Championship for the last two years and you never know what is going to happen in the next year or two, but we want to try and build a side and a squad that is capable of competing at the top end of the Championship and if we can get a bit of momentum, you never know where you can end up.

“There will be players who are quite pleased that everyone is on a level field and there will be players who feel they have already shown their worth to the previous manager, but the good thing for every one of them is the fact that I am coming in fresh. I will judge every one fairly and they will all have to try and impress me to make sure they are getting themselves into the team for the first game of the season. I think that is refreshing. I think it is something for me and them to look forward to.”

The first full interview, photos and much more with the new manager will be available on PNE.Com and iFollow on Wednesday afternoon.