Westley, John Dreyer and Dino Maamria all signed rolling contracts on Friday evening at Deepdale

Preston North End have officially confirmed Graham Westley as their new manager.

After a week of negotiations Westley, assistant manager John Dreyer and first team coach Dino Maamria put pen to paper on rolling contracts on Friday evening.

Westley will sit in the stands for today’s match between the Lilywhites and Wycombe Wanderers with Graham Alexander and David Unsworth in the dugout.

Speaking to the Preston website, Westley said: “It is a privilege to be handed the reins at this historic football club.

“When you see images of men like Sir Tom Finney, Alan Kelly and Bill Shankly looking back at you from the stands at Deepdale, you get a very clear sense of the responsibilities that you are accepting.

“It is my job to build a ferocious spirit of passion and unity among our team and in support of our team. Let’s just get better every day.”

Preston chairman Peter Ridsdale added: “We look forward to working together to restore this fabulous football club to its rightful position in the football hierarchy.”

Boro begin life without Westley today at Rochdale where Mark Roberts has been given the role of player-manager.