Middlesbrough halved the gap on Championship leaders Coventry City to just three points as they cruised past Preston North End.

The game was over by half-time as Boro went in three goals up courtesy of former North End captain Alan Browne, Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker.

Visiting defender Jordan Storey was shown a straight red card just after the break before Conway added a fourth goal to complete an easy win.

It was a fourth successive win for the hosts, a run in which they have scored 13 goals, as Boro put pressure on the Sky Blues, who do not play until Monday night when they travel to Norwich City, while Ipswich Town's later defeat to Sheffield United on Saturday means the Teesside club have a five-point advantage over the Tractor Boys.

Preston have now lost three successive games for the first time all season - all without scoring - as their play-off hopes have taken a real dent as they slipped to ninth at the conclusion of the afternoon games.

Yet Paul Heckingbottom's side were appealing for a penalty inside the first two minutes when the ball appeared to hit Matt Targett's hand.

Nothing was given and, shortly after, Boro were in their stride as Browne, a veteran of more than 400 games at Deepdale, was in acres of space to receive Targett's fine pass and score his third in five matches to put his current club ahead.

The Republic of Ireland midfielder could have made it two, but the second did not take too long to arrive as Luke Ayling's ball put Conway through and he did the rest.

Boro were completely dominant and that was given a further boost three minutes before the break when Lewis Gibson was dispossessed by Whittaker on the edge of the box and he mercilessly drilled it past Jack Walton for his 11th goal of the season.

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg had worried about the tight turnaround between playing at Stoke City on Wednesday night and this lunchtime kick-off, but he had no need to as the visitors' misery continued.

Storey lost control of the ball when he was the last man and fouled Conway as North End had a player sent off for the second game in a row.

And when Walton pushed Leo Castledine's free-kick back into the danger area, Boro's number nine was quickest to react to make it four, as he scored twice in a game for the first time since November 2024.

The result matched Boro's biggest win of the season, as they continue to push for a return to the Premier League for the first time in nine years.

However, this was Preston's heaviest league defeat since December 2023, and they have lost all three games since first-choice goalkeeper Daniel Iversen picked up a groin injury in training, with his absence leaving a big hole.

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees:

"It's weird when you put so much emotion into the game and it's over after 60 minutes. But what a performance from the lads, what energy.

"Going away to play Stoke on a Wednesday night, travelling eight hours back and forth on the bus, having the West Bromwich game, 16, 17 hours on the bus back and forth, then one day less of rest playing this game on Saturday lunchtime, which is the shortest amount of rest you can get in between games.

"Then to put in that type of energetic performance, that is unbelievable from the players."

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"The goals were all mistakes, all errors, so you're never going to win games if you give goals away like that.

"We've gifted the game to Boro but they're a good side - it would have been hard enough anyway not doing that.

"But I can't accept that we come to a place like this and just because they're a good side we roll over.

"We've shown in spells this season that we can play to those levels. Our challenge is putting a group together that can do it for 46 games."