Albion can take Hart

But it was events closest to Albion's goal which he insists can give the Seagulls most encouragement for the run-in.

The first cleansheet in seven games, since the last freezing goalless draw against north-west opponents when Burnley came south, at least ended the losing run.

It comes to something when the highlights of the last few weeks are 0-0s at home but at least the Preston game had plenty of entertainment.

It also represented a decent result for Albion on what had initially appeared to be a day when the bottom three could have become further detached from safety.

Hart, a half-time replacement for the unwell Joel Lynch, was at the centre of it.

A day of draws all round would have been a fait bit worse for Albion had he not cleared off the line from Danny Dichio within a couple of minutes of coming on.

And it would have been a lot better had Hart's late drive from the inside-right position flown inside the far post rather than just past it.

Either way, Mr Play-Anywhere was in the thick of it down the right-hand side.

While Preston boss Billy Davies admitted his team faced shooting practice in training this week, Hart epitomised the positive post-game buzz coming out of the home changing room straight after the game.

Asked if he was disappointed with the draw, he said: "No, you've got to look at it a different way, "Look at where Preston are in the league, what a good team they are, have a look at their subs, who they played up front in the first half.

"They are a good team. No one can under-estimate them.

"We're a point better off. If we hadn't got it we'd be further behind Sheffield Wednesday.

"Everything's the same in the league table at the minute but at least we've got a bit of confidence now.

"We've had chances and maybe should have done better with them but a cleansheet will do the most for our confidence. That's what we needed, desperately."

Asked if he was aware of a need to attack during the second half given the state of the league table, Hart admitted: "It's weird what you think about during games.

"You're desperate to do well.

"I don't know if some of the fans think we're not working hard enough but all the lads are giving their all.

"We don't want to go down. We want to stay in this league and the lads are working so hard."

Albion's musical offering as the teams ran out for kick-off was Substitute by The Who.

They might have been better advised to save that one for half-time given the immediate impression made by Hart after he went on.

Home hearts were in mouths as he blocked Dichio's goalbound drive before Claude Davis almost buried the rebound.

In an assessment with which perhaps not all fans would agree, Hart said: "We wanted to change something and, although they had a few chances, I thought we pinned them back for a little while.

"It was a hard game. The pitch isn't going to help either team. I came on and the first thing I had to do was clear off the line.

"That's my job. I'm on the post and I'm on the line ready.

"With the chance at the end, Seb called me that I had a man on so I just hit it first time and saw it trickle past the post.

"It was unlucky. We've had a few other chances and we've just got to keep battling."

Which they certainly did to protect their point and get forward when possible.

Dean Hammond flinging himself at a goalbound shot and players getting in tackles around their own penalty area are not really what you expect from a team who need wins.

But Preston's need was just as great and they impressed going forward.

Hart made an important challenge by tracking a long way back to force dangerous Dave Nugent to shoot horribly wide when well-placed.

And that summed up the effort Albion will need in their remaining games.

Still nursing a blow to the back suffered in that incident, Hart added: "He was about to shoot and I lunged in and he just caught me.

"It's a bit dead at the moment. I'll probably wake up and not be able to walk in the morning.

"But then it'll be all right."