Pundits have long been stating that Preston-born Lonergan is a Premier League keeper in waiting, and following a string of fine performances over the past two seasons, those rumours come as no great surprise.

The home grown keeper took his chance to secure a regular run as Preston's first choice goalkeeper when Wayne Henderson suffered a back injury in September 2007, and has since all but trebled his career appearance tally, notching up 100 consecutive first team appearances along the way.

Gaining a chance through injury helped things to come full circle for the Preston lad who was unfortunate enough to lose his first team place two years earlier through a cruciate knee ligament injury, which flared up once again following his recovery and decimated his campaigns in 2005/06 and 2006/07.

Lonergan has earned international honours, having represented England at U21 level, though he has been denied further caps based on a technicality. With the England senior squad not requiring his services, he received interest from the Republic of Ireland setup due to his Irish grandparents, but the call came too late to switch nationalities, arriving after the cut off point of 21 years of age.

He can even lay claim to a career goal, having scored direct from an up-field kick out of his hands away to Leicester at the Walkers Stadium in October 2004, the game ending in a 1-1 draw.