KEVIN Davies believes Wanderers' loss was Preston's gain after Jermaine Beckford fired the Lilywhites back into the Championship.

The striker recently released by the Whites is set to leave when his contract runs out at the end of June and North End boss Simon Grayson has already expressed an interest in keeping the man who netted a hat-trick in Sunday's play-off final triumph against Swindon.

Davies believes it would be a good signing at Deepdale after he scored 18 goals in 31 games following his loan move from the Macron Stadium, including six in the three play-off matches.

Davies said: "Jermaine has been outstanding for us in the last few weeks.

"I don’t know why it didn’t work out for him at Bolton.

"I have not really spoken with him about what happened there.

"Sometimes one manager signs you then leaves, and a new man doesn’t quite fancy you.

"Maybe he wants to play a certain way with a different kind of striker and a different system.

"I have experienced that myself and it is part and parcel of football.

"I have not come across Jermaine before but he is a great guy off the pitch.

"In terms of scoring goals, some of his finishes have been fantastic.

"He is a great goalscorer and thrives on it.

"He has been great both on and of the pitch for us with the younger players as well.

"He’s been a great signing for us."

Grayson is of the same mindset as the ex-Wanderers skipper.

And he hopes being back in the second tier can help fund a permanent move for the 31-year-old he also worked with at Leeds.

Grayson said: "I have spoken to Jermaine over the last few weeks, talking about him being unemployed in a couple of weeks.

“Sunday’s win allows us to compete financially to keep him and others.

“The one thing about Jermaine is that he enjoys playing for myself and Glynn Snodin.

“Money isn’t his motivation – yes it helps – but I think when he is happy you get the best out of him.

“We have a special relationship and you have seen big players come to the fore in the final and play big parts for us.

“There will be some tough decisions over the next few days.

“Loan players will go back but we will try and do deals with them because they are good players."