Alan Irvine is still a firm believer in David Nugent's talent

Nugent will miss a first return to Deepdale for Sunday's Preston-Pompey FA Cup clash due to a groin injury.

But it has not stopped ex-Everton No 2 Irvine admitting that Nugent was on the Goodison wanted list 12 months ago.

"We watched him a lot," said Irvine. "He's a very good player. But it never happened as the price was too high."

We watched him a great deal and thought he was a very good player Preston manager Alan Irvine

Irvine added: "How close was it? Well, he was certainly a player who we watched very carefully and a player who we admired."

Nugent, still only 22, picked up his one international cap while a North End player almost a year ago.

After being brught off the bench in England's notorious Euro 2008 Qualifier in Andorra last March, Nugent marked almost his first touch by being in the right place at the right time to score the third goal from just a yard.

After a season of speculation over his future, Nugent moved on to Pompey in the summer for �6m. But he has so far not had much of a chance to shine and was nudged even further down the pecking order by last month's arrival of Jermain Defoe.