Joe Hart believes he spotted the clearest sign yet that Marcus Rashford's confidence is growing in an Aston Villa shirt after the forward broke his duck in a claret and blue shirt at Preston North End on Sunday. Rashford bagged twice in the second half as Villa ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Championship side Preston in the quarter finals of the FA Cup , to tee up a place at Wembley against Crystal Palace next month. The Manchester United loanee had produced four assists in his first nine matches for Villa since his January loan switch, but he was still waiting for his first goal before Sunday's tie - then two arrived in the space of five minutes. Having converted to open the scoring, Villa were then awarded a penalty after Morgan Rogers was fouled in the penalty area. Marco Asensio, who netted a spot-kick in Brugge during Villa's Champions League last 16 success, claimed the ball initially. Rashford, though, had a brief chat with his Spanish teammate and Asensio relinquished his grasp of the ball to allow the attacker the chance to double his own tally - Rashford duly did so, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. Former Manchester City goalkeeper and Rashford's former England teammate Hart acknowledged that handover from Asensio as a clear sign that Rashford's desire for goals and levels of confidence are now flowing again after a difficult period at parent club United. "I think it was a huge statement the moment Marco Asensio picked the ball to take the penalty," Hart told the BBC . "He didn't take the ball off him - they, Marcus and Marco, had a discussion and they decided it was best for the team and the best for that moment to give the ball to Marcus Rashford. "He was confident. Asensio took one when he was on the field previously, in the Champions League. That was massive. The confidence to take that penalty...everybody in this stadium, in a Preston shirt, of a Preston North End feeling, would've wanted him to miss that penalty and he held his nerve and confidently slotted it. "There is pressure on that lad every time he goes out onto a field. We're talking about his body language, that's a conversation about how he behaves, how he chews his chewing gum...with Marcus, he's that kind of guy, but when he's scoring goals and winning, it's brilliant." Everyday, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here , while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here .