PNE winger Liam Millar learns Copa America fate after Canada play-off clash

Liam Millar, Preston North End – Preston North End hasn’t played in the top flight of English football since 1951. In the years since, they’ve fallen all the way to the fourth tier, but over time have worked their way back up the system and currently reside in the Championship. They have come agonizingly close to the Premier League on a number of occasions with 2005 the most devastating when PNE fell 1-0 to West Ham in the playoff final.

Could 2024 be the year that Preston finally plays in the Prem? Based on early returns from the Championship season, now might be the time with a Canadian helping things along in the form of Liam Millar. The former Liverpool winger is back in England on loan from Basel. Through six matches, PNE is the lone undefeated side remaining and sits atop the table on 16 points. Their latest victory came on Saturday with Toronto’s Millar scoring his first goal for the side with what turned out to be the winner on his debut in a 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle. The hosts were ahead almost from the jump.

Picking up the ball just outside the area in the first minute, Millar shook off Kaine Kessler to get a shot off on Conor Hazard from an angle. While he was able to palm away Millar’s effort, Duane Holmes was on the doorstep to head home to make it 1-0. Millar would get his goal in the 25th to complete a move that he started himself when he harried Morgan Whittaker into a bad pass near midfield. Taking possession not far from where he did on Holmes’s goal, Millar danced into the area, put Julio Pleguezelo on skates and then dragged his shot past Hazard in a beautiful individual effort for his first goal in a PNE shirt.

The visitors would pull one back through Ryan Hardie in the 61st, but that was as close as they would come. After the match, Millar said he was happy to be back in England. “It is amazing to be back in England and feel the atmosphere. We’ve just got to keep our heads down, stay humble and continue to improve. The players are great and the togetherness is the biggest thing, I think. The feel of this group is our biggest strength, for me.” Up next for PNE is a midweek fixture with visiting Birmingham City on Tuesday afternoon.