27-year-old former Preston North End winger Lewis Neal has today joined United on a 6-month contract.

The Leicester-born Stoke City trainee joined Preston in the summer of 2005 and has made 73 appearances and scored five goals for the Lilywhites.

He spent a month on-loan with Notts County prior to Christmas, and makes the move up North following talks with the management team this afternoon.

Greg Abbott said: "Lewis is an excellent footballer, and we have actually had to fight off a number of other clubs to get him to come here.

"He came up here today and we have been able to persuade him that this is the place for him to be. He'll now provide us with some strong competition for that left hand side, which is good for the squad."

"He's a player that we know all about," he added. "Dennis worked with him at Deepdale and Kav played with him at Stoke, and I have seen him on 6 or 7 occasions. We're getting ourselves a Championship level player who wants to come in and help us to continue our progress."

"He will be with us through to the summer," he said, "and that will be with a view to then further extending the deal. At the moment the contract gives him a chance to get some games in, and he is here to prove himself. He has made it quite clear that is why he is here, and we are delighted to have him on board with us."

Neal will be available for selection for the Hereford game on Tuesday.