Preston ready to name ex-Norwich chief Alex Neil as new boss after talks with chairman Peter Ridsdale

PRESTON are ready to name Alex Neil their new manager after a top level meeting with chairman Peter Ridsdale.

North End want to tie up the move quickly – as first revealed by Sun Sport on Saturday – and the Scot is happy to join them.

Neil has been looking for a way back in since being sacked by Norwich, but it was his promotion success there that attracted Preston.

Owner Trevor Hemmings wants to make a go for the Premier League and Neil’s ability to take the Canaries to the top flight put him at the top of their wish list.

Neil will take over the squad from Simon Grayson and be given some cash to spend although their best player last season – Aiden McGeady – is set to follow his old manager to Sunderland.

Grayson had been in charge at Preston since 2013 and led the club back to the Championship at the end of the 2014-15 season.

He has since kept the club in the league, with Preston finishing in a solid 11th place last season.

Neil joined Norwich in January 2015 and won 17 out of his first 25 games to lead Norwich to the Premier League via the play-offs.

But the club came straight back down and failed to hit the same heights in the Championship last season.

Norwich were eighth in the league in March and nine points outside of the play-off places when Neil had his contract terminated.

He was previously manager of Hamilton in his native Scotland.

He led the club back to the Scottish Premier League in his first full season in charge before leaving to come to England after almost two years in charge.

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