Alan Browne and Will Keane were on target as Preston reignited their push for the play-offs with a 3-1 victory over Huddersfield in tonight's midweek Championship action.
Preston returned to winning ways with the 3-1 victory against the struggling side thanks to skipper Browne and Keane's first-half goals, which gave Ryan Lowe's side a 2-0 interval lead.
Danny Ward’s first goal of the season hinted at a second-half revival for their opponents still hovering just above the drop zone.
But instead, Ben Whiteman’s 66th-minute goal wrapped up a first win in five for the Lancashire outfit and one-time leaders of the division.
Fellow Republic of Ireland international, Mark Sykes, was also on target - assisted by Jason Knight - however, his Bristol City side came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline with a Blackburn Rovers side containing Andy Moran and Sammie Szmodics.
Blackburn moved to within two points of the play-offs with the win as Jon Dahl Tomasson's men halted a two-game losing streak thanks to Arnor Sigurdsson’s fifth of the campaign in the 35th minute before Scott Wharton’s towering header early in the second half doubled their advantage.
However, they were made to work for the points thanks to a spirited response from the Robins who pulled a goal back in the 60th minute through Sykes’ close-range finish and from there, the visitors were the much better side.
Liam Manning’s side could easily have come away with a share of the spoils but found Blackburn goalkeeper Leo Wahlstedt in inspired form and he made a hat-trick of late saves to thwart Knight.
Ipswich came from behind to win 2-1 at Watford and claim the Championship summit from Leicester.
Yaser Asprilla's early Hornets goal lengthened the odds on Kieran McKenna’s visitors getting the victory they required to overtake the Foxes, who host Millwall on Wednesday.
But George Hirst’s equaliser set up an entertaining contest that was settled in the 80th minute by Town captain Sam Morsy.
Jobe Bellingham notched a second-half winner as managerless Sunderland ended high-flying Leeds' seven-game unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light.
The younger brother of Real Madrid and England superstar Jude scored the fourth goal of his fledgling career to eke out a 1-0 victory over Daniel Farke’s third-placed side, who slipped 10 points behind new EFL Championship leaders Ipswich.
It was a second win in two games for Sunderland caretaker Mike Dodds since the sacking of Tony Mowbray last week and the Black Cats – for whom Will Still is the favourite to take the reins on a permanent basis – remain sixth in the table.
West Brom also got back to winning ways with two second-half strikes proving to be the difference in a 2-0 triumph at Rotherham.
The Baggies had suffered back-to-back defeats heading into this game but Grady Diangana's deflected strike and Jed Wallace’s perfect free-kick ensured a very welcome three points for Carlos Corberan’s side.
Rotherham welcomed new head coach Leam Richardson but they remain winless since October – a nine-game streak which has seen them drop to the foot of the Championship.
Swansea came from behind to claim a late point in a 1-1 draw at Stoke.
Daniel Johnson's second-half penalty looked to have given Stoke – who sacked Alex Neil over the weekend after the loss to Sheffield Wednesday – their first win in five games.
But Harry Darling, who conceded the earlier spot-kick, headed home as full-time neared to give the Swans a share of the spoils.
