Middlesbrough moved to within three points of Sky Bet Championship leaders Coventry by heaping more misery on 10-man Preston at the Riverside, with Alan Browne netting against his former club in a 4-0 victory.
Browne, who made more than 400 appearance in a decade for North End from 2014-2024, put Boro ahead, while Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker exploited defensive lapses to leave the hosts three up at half-time.
Jordan Storey was red-carded shortly after the resumption and Conway rounded off the scoring to give second-placed Middlesbrough a thumping victory - their fourth in a row in the league that leaves them breathing down the neck of Frank Lampard's Coventry, who travel to struggling Norwich on Monday.
Play-off chasing Preston, meanwhile, slipped to a fourth successive defeat in all competitions and face questions over their backline after conceding seven goals in their last two matches.
For Browne, who has 37 Ireland caps to his name, it's his second goal for Boro after his loan move from Sunderland. It came after Matt Targett's teasing cross over the top saw the Corkman shrug off Jamal Lewis, who fell to the floor, and the midfielder excellently controlled the ball with his right foot before finishing coolly with his left.
Browne then missed the chance to double his and Middlesbrough's tally by curling wide of goalkeeper Jack Walton's far post.
Millwall consolidated their position in the play-off places by brushing aside south London rivals Charlton with a 4-0 victory at The Den.
An early own goal from Charlton right-back Kayne Ramsay was added to by late strikes from Caleb Taylor, Luke Cundle and Aidomo Emakhu as the high-flying Lions recorded their fourth win in six league games.
It was also their biggest victory of the season, and it left the abject Addicks still in the relegation mire.
Patrick Bamford scored and was then sent off as Sheffield United eased fears of being dragged back into the relegation battle with an impressive 3-1 victory over promotion-chasing Ipswich.
After conceding first-half goals to Callum O'Hare and Andre Brooks, Ipswich were given hope when Jack Clarke scored from the penalty spot on the hour mark.
But Bamford, who was named captain on his return to the starting line-up, soon added a third goal for the hosts before being shown a second yellow card for diving six minutes from time.
Second-half goals from Scott Twine and substitute Sam Bell saw Bristol City strengthen their play-off challenge with a 2-0 victory over bottom club Sheffield Wednesday at Ashton Gate.
The hosts took a 64th-minute lead when Twine rose above the Wednesday defence to powerfully head home Ross McCrorie's driven cross from the right.
Bell doubled the advantage after 78 minutes, shooting home from the edge of the area after fellow replacement Sinclair Armstrong had burst clear of the visiting defence to draw goalkeeper Murphy Cooper off his line and create the chance.
Wednesday skipper Barry Bannan (above) was substituted in the closing stages in what is expected to the long-serving 36-year-old's last appearance for the club. It was an emotional moment as the popular midfielder left the field to handshakes from both teams and applause from both sets of fans.
Wrexham scored twice in stoppage time to come from behind and pull off an incredible 3-2 victory at QPR.
After Harvey Vale's early opener, Callum Doyle's first Wrexham goal hauled them level early in the second half.
Steve Cook's 80th-minute goal looked to have secured victory for Rangers, but they were reduced to 10 men when Amadou Mbengue was sent off 10 minutes later - and the visitors then scored twice in the space of a minute.
Dean Windass equalised and fellow substitute Ollie Rathbone netted a dramatic winner in the final moments with a thumping right-footed strike from 30 yards.
