Harrison Armstrong slumped to the Deepdale turf at full time, his shirt over his head. After being helped up by a member of Preston North End’s backroom staff, he initially stayed crouched over, a mixture of fatigue and frustration.
The on-loan Everton midfielder, 18, had given everything in an attempt to help his temporary club overcome a 1-0 deficit at home to Birmingham City, but those efforts were in vain. Preston had their chances, with Armstrong propelling them forward with characteristic energy and elegance, but they could not find the killer moment in front of goal.
Preston, of England’s Championship, are a proud club with real history. The mural that encircles Deepdale, their home since 1878, boasts of past achievements like their Football League and FA Cup double in the 1888-89 season, and their 1938 victory in the latter. Further on, there is a ‘Moyes 6’ shirt from the Scot’s time as a player at North End in the nineties.
The Everton manager, who held a similar role at Preston at the start of his career, is everywhere at Deepdale. In one of the lounges housing press and scouts, his portrait perches on the wall.
Moyes was a major factor behind Everton’s decision to send Armstrong, their great young hope, to Preston ahead of a slew of other interested Championship clubs. The idea was that he could keep a close eye on his charge’s development from his nearby home in Lytham.
Moyes was at Deepdale to watch Tuesday’s game, with goalkeeping coach David Lucas, another former Preston player, also in attendance.
Harrison Armstrong, right, in action against Birmingham City on Tuesday (Kate McShane/Getty Images)
The connections between the two clubs run deep. Armstrong was joined in the starting line-up by ex-Everton Under-21 defender Lewis Gibson, with two other former players, Thierry Small and Lewis Dobbin, as second-half substitutes. Preston’s head of recruitment, James Wallace, came through Everton’s academy; his close ties to the Merseyside club and Armstrong’s camp are another key driver in the move.
Assistant manager Stuart McCall played for Everton, while first-team coach Peter Murphy and head of performance analysis Charlie Ager have also had stints working at the club.
Everton were initially unsure whether to send Armstrong out on loan. While the consensus from both the club and player side was that he needed regular minutes to continue his development — something unlikely this season at Everton — his performances during pre-season and in the early part of the campaign gave them cause for thought. It was only when Merlin Rohl was signed late on deadline day that the move was rubber-stamped after an anxious wait.
Preston were always the favoured pick. It was felt that their Everton connections, north-west location and history in developing players — Jordan Pickford, Anthony Gordon and Liam Delap all had spells at Deepdale — made it a positive environment for Armstrong to grow. They were persistent with their interest and committed to giving him regular minutes. Unlike last season’s loan club Derby County, it was felt that they would avoid a relegation battle and offer the teenager more of an opportunity to showcase his ability on the ball.
Armstrong was on the bench for his first three Preston matches, having been away with the England Under-19s for much of his first week. During that international break, he captained his country, replicating the feat in their recent 7-0 win over Wales, a game in which he also registered two assists.
Yet he has started the last four matches, including Tuesday’s defeat to Birmingham, and quickly made his mark. “Harrison is going to be a top-quality player, a Premier League player,” captain Ben Whiteman told the Lancashire Post, while also praising his fellow midfielder’s maturity at just 18.
Armstrong’s performance in the recent 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic also drew praise from the former Liverpool and Preston striker Neil Mellor, a regular at Deepdale. “When I watched him against Charlton, I was like: ‘God, who’s this? What a player’,” Mellor told the Lancashire Post.
Nick Chadwick, Everton’s lead development coach, has attended games to track Armstrong’s progress, with positive reports relayed to Moyes and his staff.
Alongside regular minutes, Moyes has tasked the teenager with adding goals and assists to his game. Seven games in, he is yet to do either, but his impact on the Preston team is already clear.
Armstrong is becoming a reference point for team-mates, the one they pass to even when he is in tight areas. He is calm and composed in possession, making 13 passes into the final third against Birmingham. Late in the game, with Preston chasing an equaliser, he kept dropping deep to take the ball off goalkeeper Daniel Iversen and start attacks.
Stationed on the left of the midfield trio, much of his best work came from funnelling the ball forward down that channel.
This was a good test, in the driving rain against a competitive Birmingham midfield featuring Tommy Doyle, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, South Korea’s Paik Seung-ho and Japanese international Tomoki Iwata.
Armstrong was tasked with marking Iwata when Birmingham had the ball. While the Birmingham man twice evaded his clutches in midfield, Armstrong more than held his own and dominated physically. No player on the pitch won more duels (11/12), with the teenager winning all five of his ground duels.
Armstrong made two appearances for Everton this season before joining Preston (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Tall and mobile, Armstrong is capable of covering vast swathes of territory across the whole 90 minutes. When Everton benchmarked his physical output last season, they found it was already comparable to players already competing at Premier League level, including those in their own squad.
This was another tireless display. The only thing missing was a moment of magic to get Preston back into the game.
Still, there were subtle hints of potential to play beyond this level: drops of the shoulder or touches to evade opposition markers, physical dominance and a composure in possession that will stand him in good stead when he does return to Everton.
“I really like Harrison,” Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom said afterwards. “I think he can get better still. As I’ve seen him play more, there’s one or two things I want to challenge him on but I really like how he plays, what he’s like as a lad.
“He’s 18 and has got a really good future because he’s already a very good player at this level, but I can see where he can improve further.”
There is still a chance that Everton will need Armstrong this season. Idrissa Gueye’s likely participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs from December to mid-January, opens up the prospect of a potential recall during the winter window. Replicating Gueye’s impact would be a tough ask for anyone, never mind an 18-year-old, but Everton are lucky to have a player of Armstrong’s ability coming through.
For now, he has unfinished business at Preston, who look upwardly mobile this season despite Tuesday’s defeat. It is a challenge he will no doubt relish.
