Michael Hart continued his comeback trail by getting 90 minutes worth of action in the reserves' 4-0 defeat away at Morecambe.

The 28-year-old right-back showed no ill-effects of a recent hip flexor problem by putting in an impressive performance at Christie Park on Thursday night.

This was the first run out that the January signing has had in North End colours, with his last competitive match coming on Boxing Day for his former club Aberdeen.

Hart's appearance represented great progress as the North End number two only trained with his new team mates for the first time at the start of last week.

Hart and Chris Neal were the only two professionals named in Billy Barr's squad, with the rest of the 16 consisting of members of the youth setup.

Morecambe's goals were scored by Jamie Burns, Wayne Curtis whilst Jon Newby grabbed himself a brace.

After the final whistle coach Jamie Hoyland said: "It was just great for Michael to get 90 minutes really. We were only going to give him 60 or 70 minutes but he gave us the thumbs up that he wanted to stay on which shows a great attitude .

"They had quite a few pros playing which makes it quite difficult but we conceded three soft goals in the first half and from then it was uphill. We've had a few chances as well but it's a learning experience for the lads to play against pros and to step it up another level.

"We gave it a go and certainly in the second half put in a better performance."