Man Utd goalkeeper Johnstone rejoins Preston

Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has rejoined hometown club Preston North End on a one-month loan deal.

The 22-year-old spent the early weeks of the season on the substitutes' bench but, after David de Gea's move to Real Madrid fell through, he dropped down the pecking order.

The former Doncaster Rovers loanee spent the second half of the 2014-15 campaign with Preston as he helped them gain promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

And Johnstone is keen to earn more first-team experience as he returns to Deepdale following Jordan Pickford's recall from his loan spell with the Lilywhites by Sunderland.

"I'm delighted to be back and hopefully I can start playing some games," he told Preston's official website.

"It's great to be around the team at Manchester United, they are the biggest club in the world but, at the end of the day, I'm 22 years old and I have to think about myself a little bit and I need to be playing first-team football.

"I get to do that now in the Championship, which is a great league to play in."

Johnstone's departure leaves United with three senior goalkeepers, though Victor Valdes remains out of favour, having fallen out with manager Louis van Gaal.