Kevin Nicholls joined the Lilywhites in the pre-season of 2007 from Leeds United making North End the sixth club of his career.

The £750,000 signing has spent the majority of his playing days at Luton making over 170 appearances for the Hatters between 2001 and 2006. He joined Leeds last year but following a disagreement with manager Denis Wise he was discarded at Elland Road. Paul Simpson took full advantage of his availability, making him his third close season signing behind Karl Hawley and Billy Jones.

Nicholls is considered in the game as a tough, tenacious midfielder who whilst at Luton Town was regarded by manager at the time, Joe Kinnear as 'the heart and soul' of the team.

Injury problems plagued the early part of his career when at Charlton and Wigan, and though his PNE career started relatively trouble-free, he appears to have seen his first Deepdale season ended prematurely due to a knee injury.

Nicholls has represented England at Under 18s and 19s and he was also a member of the 1999 FIFA World Championship Under 20s squad where he was sent off in the 2-0 defeat by Japan.