Boro put pressure on Coventry with 4-0 win at Deepdale
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Middlesbrough moved to within three points of Championship leaders Coventry by heaping more misery on 10-man Preston at the Riverside.
Alan Browne returned to haunt his former club by putting Boro ahead, while Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker exploited defensive lapses to put Boro three up at half-time. Jordan Storey was red-carded shortly after the resumption and Conway rounded off the scoring to give Middlesbrough a fourth league victory in a row.
Playoff chasing Preston slipped to a fourth successive defeat in all competitions and face questions over their backline after conceding seven goals in their last two matches. Boro took a ninth-minute lead as Browne shrugged off Jamal Lewis and finished clinically from Matt Targett’s teasing through ball.
