A hat-trick last year, Neil Mellor is hoping that Erdal Hallein can provide a timely confidence booster once again.

The North End striker used last summer's pre-season warm-up against the Austrian part-timers to get amongst the goals in style, grabbing three as the Lilywhites hammered eleven past their hosts and the former Liverpool man is hopeful he can do the same again.

"Every pre-season is tough and when you play games it is not really about the result it is about getting the game fitness but as a striker it is always important to score goals," the striker told pne.com as he looked forward to the first run out of pre-season.

"The game we have on Saturday is the same opposition we had last year so we should expect plenty of chances so hopefully the strikers can get on the score sheet there. It's a little bit unrealistic to expect to play a side like that this during the season but it is a good start and a good confidence booster to play a team like that because we have a lot of possession and a lot of attacks.

"We have been doing a lot of long sprints, I am not sure how many of them we will be doing in the game but it is a good base to have in the game and hopefully we can show how hard we have been working in these games."

Though only pre-season, Mellor knows that a good summer can provide something of a springboard for a good campaign and the striker isn't in the frame of mind to be lowering his ambitions or expectations for next season.

He said: "My personal ambition is to be the top scorer and on a team level we have to better last season's position which would be a great success. The biggest disappointment for me was not tasting Wembley, as a young lad I have always wanted to play at Wembley, it's a bit unrealistic to think that we are going to get to an FA Cup Final, of course we want to get there but the Premiership is so far ahead of us that it is unlikely, so our best bet is the Play-Off Final.

"I finished with twelve goals thanks to Chappy's assists, and I missed three big months of the season where a lot of games were played. I got ten goals then last season I got twelve so I am steadily increasing and it would be nice to increase it again."

Mellor knows that the key to his goalscoring form will be to remain in the team and that of course means he will have to avoid any niggly injuries which might keep him out of the side.

"Last season was a little bit indifferent again. I finished top scorer again and it is nice to finish top scorer two seasons in a row but for me it is about staying fit and unfortunately last year I had a double hernia and that was a frustrating two or three months during the season. I didn't actually find my form till late on in the season after what was a great time before Christmas.

"It was frustrating because I had played in a big game against Liverpool and I was desperate to be fit, but I wasn't and I was kidding myself and probably prolonging the injury. Hopefully it has all been sorted now and I can get back and concentrate on scoring goals again.

"I am a centre-forward, I know that every young lad growing up wants to be a glory hunter, scoring the goals. There is always going to be competition for places and Parky and Sleeves did ever so well when they were playing. Parky got himself a lot of goals in the team, strikers are judged on scoring goals and being effective in the team, both lads did well but when I get my chance again I hope to take it.

"We've all shown that we can play a part and win games by scoring goals, the side creates a lot of chances for us so it is up to us to be in the right position and put it in the net."

Last season held some bitter-sweet memories for Mellor and his Lilywhite team-mates. North End achieved their ambitions of reaching the Play-Offs but were ultimately disappointed in defeat to Sheffield United, but the No.33 will be using the example of local rivals Burnley to fire him up for another crack at the Championship pursuit.

He said: "We went into last season really optimistic that we could get a Play-Off position and we showed that we could do that with the season that we had. Hopefully this season with the great news of the Gaffer turning down West Brom, it has given us all a big lift and hopefully we can take that into the first game against Bristol City.

"The players certainly haven't forgotten about the Sheffield United game, it's still hurting, but we have got to move on and look forward to the first game against Bristol City. The lads are excited and looking forward to the start of the season.

"Burnley were very lucky, they played a lot of games and didn't get many injuries and that is a very unusual thing to happen at a football club, they were very fortunate. They had a solid base and it worked really well for them last season, even though we beat them last season, which was nice, I thought Burnley were one of the best sides in the league. There's no reason why we can't do that, we play some good stuff and it is not about all the money, it is about working hard on the pitch and trying to improve.

"The relegated sides will be expected to do well but they will find it difficult. Everyone will be looking forward to going there and playing there so they will have a big shock to the system if they are not prepared for it. We proved last season that we can compete against the big teams and if you don't work hard, which is what the Gaffer has got us doing, then these teams will find it difficult against us."

Stay tuned to pne.com for a full match report from this season's pre-season opener against Erdal Hallein. SMS Subscribers can get the result texted direct to their mobile phone by texting CLUB PNE ON to 88442.