January after attracting interest from new manager Dean Saunders. However, after less than a week into his loan spell at the Keepmoat Stadium, Kirkland was sent back to parent club Wigan following another back spasm. Sheffield Wednesday In May 2012, Kirkland signed a two-year contract with Championship club Sheffield Wednesday; manager Dave Jones said whoever played best out of Kirkland and Stephen Bywater during pre-season would win a first team place. Kirkland made his Wednesday debut in a 4–2 League Cup win over Oldham Athletic on 13 August 2012. On 19 October, he was assaulted by a fan who had run onto the pitch during the 1–1 draw against Leeds United. Kirkland required several minutes of treatment after the assault which was captured on television cameras and immediately followed a Leeds goal. His attacker, Aaron Cawley, went on to plead guilty to assault and was jailed for 16 weeks. Kirkland remained as first-choice goalkeeper throughout most of the 2012–13 and 2013–14 campaigns, but was relegated to second choice behind Keiren Westwood throughout the majority of the 2014–15 season and left Hillsborough in July 2015 after turning down manager Stuart Gray's offer of a new contract. Later career On 12 August 2015, Kirkland joined Championship club Preston North End on a one-year contract. He was signed as an understudy to on loan goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, and remained on the bench after Pickford was recalled, as Sam Johnstone and Anders Lindegaard also joined the club on loan. Kirkland was released by manager Simon Grayson when his contract at Deepdale expired at the end of the 2015–16 season. Kirkland joined League One club Bury on a one-year contract in June 2016. However, he left Gigg Lane for personal reasons before the 2016–17 season began in August. He later revealed that he had been fighting a four-year battle with depression. International career Kirkland won eight caps with the England national under-21 team and was regularly selected for the senior squad from 2003 onwards, but did not make an appearance until he came on as a substitute for the second half of a friendly against Greece in August 2006. When Kirkland was eleven years old, his father and some family friends had placed bets of £100 each at 100/1 odds that he would play for England before the age of 30; Kirkland's appearance netted the group £10,000 each. Style of play Kirkland was identified at