Preston eyeing Jansen

Preston North End boss Billy Davies says the club have made an enquiry about Blackburn striker Matt Jansen.

The former Crystal Palace man made his first start for Rovers in 10 months earlier this season and has attracted the attention of the Championship outfit who are keen to find a replacement for Leeds' new boy Richard Cresswell.

Jansen was on the verge of making the England squad for the 2002 World Cup although missed out due to injury, and a subsequent serious crash whilst riding a motorbike has curtailed his progress over the last three years.

Whilst Preston are keen to recruit the once highly-promising forward, Davies admitted that the club's poor financial state, itself recently a target of the manager's ire, is compromising his efforts.

"It's true that we made an enquiry for Matt Jansen," Davies told the club's official website.

"We have been looking for some time for extra firepower but clubs just don't want to release their players and with our financial restrictions it's proving difficult."

However, Davies did confirm that the club would be taking the opportunity to run the rule over Willem II striker Iwan Redan.

The North End boss indicated that no deal has yet been brokered, although confirmed that Redan would be visiting Deepdale in the near future.

"Nothing has been finalised with anybody," Davies added.

"This lad is a player who has been recommended to us and we have been invited to have a look at him.

"He will be over in the country next week and we will spend two or three days having a look at him."

Meanwhile, Preston stopper Callum Davidson has revealed that he considered retirement last summer after suffering with a debilitating groin injury.

The 29-year-old saw his international career resurrected this week with his first Scotland call-up for three years, and the former Leicester man expressed his relief at not calling it a day after his change in fortunes.

"Last summer, I was in so much agony I was ready to give it all up," Davidson told the Scottish Daily Express.

"The injury wasn't getting better and I was beginning to doubt if it was ever going to heal.

"I was taking anti-inflammatory tablets to try and mask the pain but it didn't really help. I really did think I was going to give up but, thankfully, I didn't."