Things are finally looking up for the former England U21 International goalkeeper after two separate cruciate ligament injuries kept him on the sidelines during a 15-month injury nightmare.

After making his debut in September 2000, Andy finally made the breakthrough to the first team two seasons later when he was a more than able deputy to Jonathan Gould in several key games. With Gould handing in a transfer request in the summer of 2004, Lonergan was handed the coveted No.1 shirt to enhance his status as the club's first choice custodian.

He duly obliged, starting the first 16 games of the season before breaking his hand during the 2-1 win over QPR at Deepdale. After nearly two months on the sidelines he returned and took over from Gavin Ward for the match against West Ham in December, where incidentally the 10 game unbeaten run began.

Things were going swimmingly for the 21-year-old before he made the fateful decision to stay for extra practice the day before the live televised match with Ipswich in February. It was one save too far as he damaged his cruciate ligament which bought a premature end to the season.

The youngster returned to full fitness in December and with Carlo Nash in superb form he went out on loan to Wycombe where disaster was to strike again.

After keeping two clean sheets in the two matches played Lonergan suffered further damage to his cruciate ligament again during a training session.

He returned to full training when the players reported back after the summer and eventually regained the number one spot in January 2007, when he was recalled for the trip to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Third Round.

He went on to make 15 appearances before a run of bad results saw him replaced by Wayne Henderson for the run-in. He regained his place in the side at the start of September 2007 when Henderson was ruled out due to a back injury, and has publicly stated his intention to remain as first choice once the Irishman recovers from microdiscectomy surgery. A string of inspired performances throughout the season have surely boosted his hopes of achieving that goal.