Preston North End will hope that Osmajic follows Emil Riis blueprint: View | OneFootball

The 2023/24 Championship ended in frustrating fashion from a Preston North End point of view.

Going into the final weeks of the campaign, Ryan Lowe's side were still within touching distance of the play-off place, which would of course, have given them a shot at promotion.

However, a disappointing run that saw the Lilywhites take just four points from their final eight games of the campaign, ended any hope they had of a top six spot - it was almost a sense of déjà vu from the season prior.

Instead, PNE were forced to settle for a 10th-placed finish in the final standings, some 10 points adrift of those play-offs.

That is something they will likely be keen to improve on to go one better in the coming campaign, and one player they may look for more from in order to do that, is Milutin Osmajic.

Milutin Osmajic had a relatively quiet debut Preston North End season

Back in the summer transfer window, Osmajic was one of those who made the move to Deepdale.

The striker joined the Lancashire outfit from Spanish side Cadiz in a deal that reportedly broke the club's transfer record for £2.15 million.

Having completed that deal, the Montenegro international signed a four-year contract that secured his future at Deepdale until the end of the 2026/27 season.

However, the 24-year-old would then endure something of a frustrating debut campaign in which he would find goals rather hard to come by.

In total, Osmajic scored eight goals in 36 Championship games for Preston during his debut campaign for the club - three of which came in one game against Huddersfield Town in April.

And in a strange quirk, all of his goals in 2023-24 came in-front of the Alan Kelly Town End at Deepdale, with none coming at the Bill Shankly Kop end or away from home.

Nevertheless, eight goals for a club-record striker is a pretty modest record, and Ryan Lowe will have wanted a bit more from Osmajic in-front of goal.

As a result, North End will no doubt be looking for a bigger contribution from Osmajic for next season, if they are to push even further up to the table.

Fortunately for the Montenergin, he should not have to look far for an example of just how he can make that change.

Milutin Osmajic can look to emulate Emil Riis' second season at Preston North End

Back in the summer of 2020, another striker signed by Preston came in the form of Emil Riis, who joined from Randers in his native Denmark.

In the end, the Dane would go on to endure an even more frustrating debut campaign at Deepdale than Osmajic has this season.

For Riis, his first season with the Lilywhites saw him find the net on just three occasions from 39 appearances in all competitions.

However, the striker was able to bounce back from that in impressive fashion during his second season with North End.

That 2021/22 campaign saw Riis enjoy a period where he became one of the Championship's most dangerous strikers, eventually scoring a total of 20 goals in 49 matches, and it then saw the club turn down a huge £7.5 million bid from an unnamed English club - thought to be Middlesbrough.

As a result, Preston and Osmajic ought to be aware of the fact that, much like Riis, there is the possibility that he can build on what he has done quickly and considerably in the coming campaign, if he follows the example of his team-mate.

Indeed, given that like Riis, he has now had that season to adapt to life in England both on and off the pitch, there may well be a confidence that he can indeed step up his game in that way.

Should that be the case, and Osmajic can find the net on a more consistent basis to bring about some even more positive results, while the rest of the side does their job as they did this time around, that could be the extra boost that propels Ryan Lowe's side at least closer to the play-offs.

With that in mind, everyone at Preston will surely be hoping for a repeat of Riis' second-season success for Osmajic in the coming campaign, in order to boost their chances of avoiding some of the frustrations of the past few months in missing out on the play-offs.