Goalkeeping coach Mike Pollitt says he is “looking forward” to working with new signing Freddie Woodman.
The 25-year-old arrived from Newcastle United on a three-year deal on Tuesday after a loan spell with AFC Bournemouth last season, which ended in promotion.
Woodman is the latest in a long line of top goalkeepers North End have had over the years – which includes the likes of Jordan Pickford, Sam Johnstone and Daniel Iversen – and Pollitt is excited to start working with the latest shot-stopper, who has plenty of experience.
“We’re delighted that we’ve got Freddie over the line and we’re looking forward to working with him,” said Pollitt.
“He came through at Palace as a young boy, went up to Newcastle, played a few games there but he made his name with the England U21s team.
“He got into the Play-Offs with Swansea so that’s the type of player we’re looking for at the club right now, players who have been there and done it. That's something we’re looking to do next year.”
Pollitt is keen to help him reach the heights of the highly popular Daniel Iversen, who returned to Leicester City at the end of the 2021/22 campaign after a fruitful 18 months on loan at Deepdale.
Mike said: “Everyone knows how well Daniel did and Freddie’s probably looking at that and thinking he wants to emulate that.
“Hopefully we can get him playing as well as Dan did when he was here.”
Woodman is the club’s first new signing of the summer and helps to fill a gap in the squad which was left by those who departed at the end of last season.
Mike added: “With Daniel Iversen going back to Leicester, Declan [Rudd] obviously retiring, Connor [Ripley] leaving and Mathew Hudson leaving as well, it’s been no secret that we’ve been on the lookout for new goalkeepers.
“I’ve been getting little messages on Twitter saying that I’ll be stood there on my own on the first day of pre-season with no goalkeepers so it’s a relief we’ve finally managed to get Freddie in.
“We need to strengthen in that area a bit more, so hopefully we can do that over the next week or two.”