Pompey’s quiet man has been backed to make all the right noises on his return to his old club.
Patrick Agyemang spent four years at Deepdale between 2004 and 2008 – scoring 21 goals in 135 appearances before he signed for QPR.
But the much-travelled 32-year-old has grown in stature since his arrival at Fratton Park on loan from Stevenage, netting his second goal for the club in the 2-0 win over Coventry last weekend.
And caretaker Blues boss Guy Whittingham believes Agyemang is getting better and better with every game.
He said: ‘As Pat’s had more games, his confidence has grown and grown and grown.
‘His hold-up play has got better and better.
‘We wondered about whether to bring him off at the end against Coventry.
‘But he deserved that round of applause because he’d had a good game.
‘He is something we have missed all season, really.
‘We haven’t had that sort of player where you can get the ball into him and know it will stick there.
‘Both Pat and David Connolly are like that.
‘They both like the ball into feet and can keep hold of it for us.
‘That takes a huge amount of pressure off the defence.
‘He’s quite quiet but he thinks a lot about what he’s doing. He will have chats with you about different things but he is very professional, that’s for sure. He does all the right things.’
While Agyemang is not an aggressive character, Whittingham believes he is an ideal influence on the club’s young players.
He said: ‘Pat’s quite a calm character and never seems to lose his head, although I wouldn’t like to be around when he does!
‘He’s got a good temperament.
‘When he gets fouled, he just gets up and goes again – he doesn’t moan at referees.
‘When we bring these players in, we have to make sure they are the right type of characters.
‘We’ve got youngsters here who need influencing the right way.
‘With everything that goes on in the world of football and how exposed young kids can be, I think it’s important they see good pros like Pat and the other ones we’ve got here.’