Former Cork City defender Kevin O’Connor leaves Preston North End

Former Cork City defender Kevin O'Connor has left Preston North End on a short-term loan deal.

O'Connor will join Crewe Alexandra on loan until January 7 2019 and will be available for Alexandra's trip to face Macclesfield Town at Gresty Road on Saturday. O'Connor joined Preston last summer for an undisclosed fee from Cork City after impressing in the League of Ireland alongside current Preston striker Seanie Maguire. The 23-year-old played just eight games for the lilywhites last season before finishing out the campaign with Fleetwood Town on loan. https://twitter.com/crewealexfc/status/1034818510780878854 The departure of O'Connor to Crewe follows Ireland international Daryl Horgan's recent move away from Deepdale to join Neil Lennon's Hibernian. Horgan had fallen out of favour with Preston manager Alex Neil but he's looking forward to more first team football in Scotland this season.

"I am delighted to have made the move to Hibs," Horgan told Hibernian's official website. "I've spoken to the manager and am excited for his plans for the season ahead. "Obviously the boys have started well in Europe and the league - they had a good season last year and the ambition is there to follow that up with another successful year. "I'm ready to play and looking forward to trying to break into the team."