Paul Simpson feels the transfer speculation has had a positive impact on David Nugent.
Paul Simpson feels the transfer speculation has had a positive impact on Preston North End striker David Nugent.
The England Under 21 international is among the most highly-rated players outside the Premiership and was the subject of a bid from Sheffield United in January.
He has subsequently been linked with Rangers, although talk of a move to the Scottish giants has been played down.
Preston boss Simpson remains hopeful of keeping Nugent at the club and has praised the forward's performances of late after 10 goals in his last 15 appearances.
"They can speculate as much as they like, but because of the international transfer registration problems, he couldn't go to Rangers anyway until the end of the season," Simpson told Sky Sports News.
"We've said all along that David Nugent will be with us until the summer and we will reassess it then.
"We'd love him to stay with us for a long time, but that's out of our hands a little bit.
"We can only be governed by what David and his advisers are saying.
"We will keep him going, he's still scoring goals for us and he's still performing very well for us.
"The speculation hasn't done him any harm whatsoever and hopefully it will stay that way."
