Greg Cunningham is delighted to extend his stay at Preston North End and believes he’ll be back fit and ready in no time.
The defender has penned a new deal at Deepdale until 31st December 2023, but clauses in his contract mean a longer deal can be earned, subject to his fitness and availability.
Greg missed the final stages of the 2022/23 campaign due to a hamstring injury, which he is continuing his rehabilitation from.
Speaking to iFollow PNE after signing, Greg said: “I’m delighted. I’ve said it time and time again, I feel at home here.
“It’s where I’ve enjoyed my football the most and I’m happy that the journey continues with this club.
“I’d been enjoying my football and everything before the injury, so I’m very happy to be here and extend my stay.
“I feel strong. I’m getting fitter now, I’ve been in the last few days and I’ve been in a couple of weeks before everyone else just to finalise the latter stages and be ready to go for pre-season day one.
“I feel like I’ll be ready to go. Everything’s gone very well over the summer rehab wise.”
Having accumulated 172 appearances for the club since his arrival in the summer of 2015, the left-sided defender understandably didn’t want his last action in a North End shirt to be the injury which he picked up in Middlesbrough in March 2023.
“I didn’t want to finish that way,” he said. “Just before the injury, I was playing, I was enjoying my football and playing my part for the team.
“I was hugely disappointed that I couldn’t give as much as I could to the team being injured for that run.
“It was unfinished business and I didn’t want to finish that way. Like I said, I’m very grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to stay on and I’ll give everything I can as normal.”
Greg becomes the third piece of business done by the club so far this summer, following in the footsteps of Robbie Brady who also signed a new deal, while it was announced earlier this week that Liverpool defender Calvin Ramsay will be joining the club on loan.
"We have got the main bulk here and we’ll be adding some more players too," added Greg.
"We’ve got Calvin in which is a great addition to the team and I’m sure there'll be a few more through the door as well.
"Then it’s down to us to make sure we put the work in over the next six or seven weeks of pre-season and when the fixtures are released know where we're at and where we want to be.
"We came close last year but ended up kind of just falling short which was disappointing.
"Everyone’s gone away and recharged and, when the boys come back, I’m sure we’ll all be ready to go again and make sure we can go one better."
Watch Greg's interview in full on iFollow PNE above.