Keith Keane is ready to turn double-agent on his return to Preston today.

The midfielder is unable to build on the impressive start he has made to his Crawley career against his parent club due to the terms of his loan deal.

But Keane will still be hoping to play a part in helping Reds pick up their first away win since the opening day of the season.

The former Republic of Ireland under-21 international has travelled to Deepdale with the rest of the squad despite the fact he cannot play.

Instead he will be giving boss John Gregory the lowdown on a Preston side he was a regular member of last season and knows inside out.

Gregory said: “Keith has been great since he came in so it is a shame he won’t be available today. He has slotted straight in and has just got on with it.

“He is a quality player and it shows the resources Preston have got that they have been able to leave him out of their squad completely this season.

“Although he can’t play today I wanted to bring him along to keep him involved and ticking over. He trained with us yesterday at Blackburn Rovers and will be at the game.

“He has got a lot of his mates in the Preston team so he knows quite a lot about them. I’ve spoken to him about what to expect so hopefully we will be fully prepared.

“Preston are a big club and I said in pre-season that I thought they would be right up there considering the size of their budget.

“They perhaps haven’t started as well as a lot of people expected but they have got too much quality in the squad not to start climbing the table and I still think they will be up there come May.”

Keane helped Crawley keep clean sheets in their last two games and they will undoubtedly miss the protection he offers in the defensive midfield role.

Marvin Elliott is expected to fill the hole left by Keane after signing on a short-term basis on Thursday.

Elliott’s arrival was the fourth new face Gregory has brought in since the 4-0 thrashing by Rochdale with three of those being central midfielders.

It has stretched the squad to 24 and the Reds boss admits he may look to send the likes of Emmett O’Connor, Ryan Richefond and Bradley Isaacs out on loan.

Gregory added: “There is a possibility one or two may go out as it is no good for their careers if they just sit around.

“I’ve had the odd phone call but that was when we didn’t have the numbers so I said call back in a few weeks.

“It’s got to be right for us though too. I don’t want to leave myself short but once Josh (Simpson) is fit again it’s definitely something that could happen.”

Gregory has also confirmed that Mitch Rose is still part of his plans despite making only two appearances since joining on loan from Rotherham.

“Mitch has dropped down the pecking order since Keith and Josh (Wright) have come in but I want to keep him involved,” said Gregory.

“We’ve got him for another six weeks and you never know what can happen in that time. He wasn’t involved at all at Rotherham so I don’t think he is in any hurry to go back.”