Former Preston North End stopper Daniel Iversen has been praised for his performance at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon.
PNE v Stoke looked like being a real reunion just a few months ago.
Alex Neil in charge, Ben Pearson and Daniel Johnson in the midfield… Stoke looked like a 2018-19 PNE side.
The situation has changed though; Neil lost his job in December, Pearson was suspended for this weekend’s game and Johnson is out of favour, not even making the bench.
There was one former PNE player on show though as goalkeeper Daniel Iversen – snapped up in January – started in goal for the Potters.
Daniel Iversen praised after PNE display
North End fans still think very highly of Iversen after his 18-month loan spell at PNE between January 2021 and the summer of 2022.
The Dane was simply unbelievable between the sticks for North End but returned to parent club Leicester City in an attempt to forge a Premier League career.
Iversen broke into the side last season but was frozen out by Enzo Maresca as he wanted a ball-playing goalkeeper; Iversen is an exceptional shot-stopper but his distribution isn’t quite at the same level.
That exile paved the way for a loan move to Stoke, where he has been the first-choice stopper under Steven Schumacher.
Iversen was back at Deepdale on Saturday and made one crucial save to help Stoke claim a 2-1 victory.
With the score at 1-1, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen picked out Ben Whiteman running through on goal but was denied by Iversen.
Stoke then found a winner, meaning Iversen’s save proved absolutely vital for the relegation-threatened Potters.
Boss Schumacher heaped praise on Iversen after the final whistle, telling Stoke’s official website that he thought the Dane’s save was ‘brilliant’.
“Huge, yeah,” said Schumacher. “It’s what you need your goalie for. Daniel, we know, is a really good goalkeeper and in this run-in, at this stage of the season, the games are decided by small margins. A brilliant save from him and that gave us that little bit of energy that we might have needed to go down and get one from the other end,” he added.
The result boosts Stoke’s hopes of avoiding the drop and has made PNE’s push for the play-offs a little trickier.
With a stopper like Iversen between the sticks, most North End fans would probably back Stoke to stay up – but will be cursing him for Saturday’s display.
