Michael Hart finally put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal to become a fully fledged Preston North End player on Thursday morning and immediately set his sights on returning to full fitness to aid PNE's escape from the relegation zone.
The defender completed the deal after North End agreed an undisclosed fee with Aberdeen and now that one of the most protracted transfer sagas in Deepdale history he's just keen to get his Lilywhite career underway.
"It's been dragging on for a fair bit now," Hart told Whites World on Thursday morning.
"We've been trying to get the deal sorted to get down here this month, I'm just glad they got it sorted and that I am here now. It was five or six weeks ago now, Preston gave my agent a call and we quickly met up with Alan Irvine after that and I knew that this was the place I wanted to come.
"I took my time in thinking it over, I came down and had a look around and I brought my family down but my decision was based mainly on football reasons. Preston are a great Club who are struggling this year but have previously done really well and just missed out on promotion, so the basis is there for a great club."
Hart's transfer to the Lilywhites was hindered by a hip injury which the defender received just after Christmas, the true extent of the damage was unclear for a couple of weeks and clearly affected the negotiations between the two clubs either side of the border.
With various estimates on Hart's return to full fitness the question remains, when can we see the defender in a North End shirt?
"I've had the estimates as well," smiled Hart.
"The injury is still there, it's frustrating at the moment but I know that the physios up the road arereally good physios and I have met Steve Kemp here who is an exceptional physio as well. I look forward to working with him and getting back fit as soon as I can.
"I spoke to the physio on Wednesday evening and he says he hopes to have me back playing within the next four weeks. I'm usually a quick healer, I'm hoping to get back down here and starting pressing on with the training and treatment I have been doing, I'm responding well to that and if it all goes well then hopefully be back before that, but I just want to use the four weeks as a guideline to get back in and I have to respect that."
Hart will have to get fit quick if he is to emulate the career of the last Scottish right-back to grace the Deepdale turf, The 27-year-old knows all about Graham Alexander's time both with the Scotland squad and of course with the Lilywhites.
He said: "I know of Graham through watching the Scotland games and obviously he was highly regarded here as a player, he had something like 400 games here which is exceptional. I'm looking forward to getting my head down and working here and hopefully achieving what he has achieved here."
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