Preston's number one enjoyed his best season yet for his home town club in 2009/10, establishing himself as one of the top goalkeepers in the Championship and being named the Club's Player of the Year.

Whilst there were many comings and goings at Deepdale, Lonergan's performances remained consistent, helping the Lilywhites secure their Championship status for another season. Remarkably, Lonergan amassed 147 consecutive starts until an injury ruled him out the last home game against Leicester.

Lonergan made his PNE debut in the League Cup against Coventry in September 2000 aged just 17, but went on to suffer two knee ligament injuries between 2005 and 2007 which ruled him out for long period. He has gone on to establish himself with some match winning performances, and stunning saves, including a special one away at Swansea in the 2009/10 season.

Such qualities have been recognised on the international stage too, as he was capped at U21 level for England, and could have been called up for the Republic of Ireland were he not past the cut off date for the switch.

The 27-year-old has even managed to get on the score sheet for PNE. His extraordinary goal in the 1-1 draw with Leicester at the Walkers Stadium even made the news as far away as New Zealand! Lonergan had launched a long ball up field from inside his own box, that was left by Leicester's Matt Heath before bouncing up and over a flailing Kevin Pressman.