<?php
$a = [
'sss4444dfdf', //лишние
'444444', //много
'sdfsdf', //все не то
'', //
'4', //мало
];
$i = 0;
echo($tmp = preg_filter('/^\D*(\d{2,4}).*$/', '$1', $a[$i++])? $tmp : 0).PHP_EOL;
echo($tmp = preg_filter('/^\D*(\d{2,4}).*$/', '$1', $a[$i++])? $tmp : 0).PHP_EOL;
echo($tmp = preg_filter('/^\D*(\d{2,4}).*$/', '$1', $a[$i++])? $tmp : 0).PHP_EOL;
echo($tmp = preg_filter('/^\D*(\d{2,4}).*$/', '$1', $a[$i++])? $tmp : 0).PHP_EOL;
echo($tmp = preg_filter('/^\D*(\d{2,4}).*$/', '$1', $a[$i++])? $tmp : 0).PHP_EOL;
preferences:
29.95 ms | 402 KiB | 5 Q