Source: Team_Talk
Irvine sure of North End allure
North End exceeded many people's expectations by reaching the play-off semi-finals this season, where they eventually lost out to Sheffield United, and are fancied to be amongst the front-runners next time around.
And Irvine is hopeful that their recent success has given them a better chance of persuading high-profile names to move to Deepdale.
"Last year I had hoped to be able to do all our work before pre-season training began," he told the Lancashire Evening Post.
"Maybe that was a bit unrealistic and a bit naive on my part.
"If I possibly can I will speak to agents when they are serious about their players coming to Preston rather than simply getting an idea of what the market will be. We were treated as a club who would probably be fighting for our lives at the bottom of the league again as we had been the previous season.
"But I think people will treat us differently now than they did then. The expectation level will no doubt rise again. I don't know anyone who expected us to be competing for a play-off place this year but they will do this year."
