Millar in, Stewart out: The dream start to Preston North End's summer transfer window | OneFootball

The Lilywhites missed out on a play-off spot by 10 points, but finished inside the top half of the standings for the second year in a row.

Ryan Lowe will be hoping he can continue to improve the Lancashire outfit’s position in the second tier, and potentially even push for promotion to the Premier League.

During his time with the club, the Lilywhites have come 13th, 12th and now 10th, which is a positive sign of progress over two-and-a-half years - even if sections of the fanbase have grown frustrated at the style of play.

While the gap to the top six was still 10 points, the Lancashire outfit were in the mix until the final few weeks of the season.

The summer transfer window offers an opportunity to make improvements to the side ahead of the next campaign.

Clubs will already be planning for their upcoming transfer business, with the new campaign not set to get underway again until August.

Here are the moves North End could make to have a dream start to the upcoming summer market...

IN: Liam Millar

Liam Millar signed for Preston North End last summer on loan from Swiss side Basel.

The Canadian cemented himself as a key part of Lowe’s side throughout the campaign, featuring 35 times in the Championship.

The wide player contributed five goals and five assists, and became a key part of the first-team squad that pushed for the play-offs.

Millar’s loan is now over, but Preston could look to extend his stay at Deepdale either through another loan or by securing a permanent move.

The club will need to strengthen their attacking options anyway, so bringing Millar into the fold for next year would make a lot of sense.

The winger performed quite well, even though he featured mostly at wing-back, and was a really influential creative player in the team while also contributing an attacking threat of his own.

Keeping Millar in the team would be less risky than looking for a potential replacement elsewhere, and PNE should absolutely be enquiring about a potential permanent deal for the 24-year-old, albeit his latest Instagram post wouldn't exactly convince anyone that he will be returning to Deepdale in any capacity.

OUT: Layton Stewart

Layton Stewart was signed from Liverpool last summer on a three-year deal, but he has struggled for game-time in his debut campaign at Deepdale.

The 21-year-old made 16 appearances in the Championship, but all of those came as a substitute.

PNE should consider a loan move for the forward in order to secure him greater playing time, as he isn’t quite ready for consistent minutes in Lowe’s team.

Perhaps taking a drop down to League One could be beneficial for his long-term development, as his reduced minutes in the Championship isn’t helping him improve at all.

Stewart has a lot of potential, but needs to be playing more regularly in order to make the most of that potential.

The fact he was unable to contribute a single goal or assist from his 16 appearances indicates that he isn’t quite ready to compete at this level just yet, but he could still get there with a bit more experience.

Stewart was signed as one for the future, and it is time to start working on making sure he lives up to that future down the line and a loan move could really help him get there.