Defender John Halls has returned to Reading after completing his month-long loan spell.
Boss unable to guarantee games
Defender John Halls has returned to Reading after completing his month-long loan spell with Preston.
Manager Alan Irvine decided against extending the deal as Billy Jones is recovering well after a spell out of the side with a hamstring injury.
The former Arsenal trainee made four appearances for the club during his stay, making his debut in a 1-0 away defeat at Barnsley in November.
Irvine and Halls came to the joint-conclusion that it was probably best for the player to return to the Madejski as he could no longer be guaranteed first team football.
Agreed
"Billy Jones has come back and trained with us on Monday morning, he's not ready for a game yet but it was fantastic to see him on the training ground," the Preston boss told the club's official website.
"It's the first time he's been out there in the time I've had the job and the other side of that is that John Halls has gone back to Reading.
"I couldn't guarantee John the games that he would obviously want in order for him to want to extend the loan. I've spoken to Reading and John and it was agreed that it was best for him to go back there and try and earn a contract at Reading."
St. Ledger
The manager also praised the performance of Sean St. Ledger, who had operated out of position on the right hand side of the defence against Wolves on Saturday.
"He was out of position a few times at the beginning and a wee bit unsure of where he should be, but that is to be expected and after that he did very well. He put in a really good performance not just defensively but he started to go forward as well."
