Huge Portsmouth boost as John Mousinho's side buck Championship relegation trend with Preston win

Portsmouth enjoyed an almost perfect Saturday after beating Preston North End 3-1 and seeing all of their relegation rivals lose.

John Mousinho’s side picked up just their second league win of the season at Fratton Park, with Josh Murphy and Connor Ogilvie on target in the first-half before Emil Riis pulled one back for Preston shortly after half-time. Growing tension fell away late on, however, when Colby Bishop scored from the penalty spot after Callum Lang was fouled.

That win put Pompey on to 12 points and pulled them from the foot of the Championship table, with Queens Park Rangers dropping into 24th after losing 2-0 at Leeds United. Goals either side of half-time from Jayden Bogle and Joel Piroe condemned the R’s to an 11th Championship game without victory, with pressure growing on head coach Marti Cifuentes.

Above Portsmouth are a raft of teams on 15 points, with only Plymouth Argyle and Coventry City able to earn a result which would take them on to 16. Managerless Coventry came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at league leaders Sunderland while Wayne Rooney’s Pilgrims drew 1-1 at Derby County.

Cardiff City remain in the relegation zone with Pompey and QPR, having lost 3-1 at home to a Blackburn Rovers side who hadn’t scored in the previous four games. Cardiff have picked up some good results in recent weeks but fell to Andreas Weimann’s brace and Lewis Baker’s late effort.

Luton Town were the weekend’s biggest losers after being thumped 5-1 at Middlesbrough. The recently relegated Hatters have struggled even with the step down, with Delano Burgzorg and Finn Azaz scoring two-a-piece and striker Emmanuel Latte Lath also on target to ensure Michael Carrick’s side registered back-to-back league wins for just the second time this season.

Defeat for Preston at Fratton Park leaves them among the group on 15 points, having failed to win any of their last five league outings. Hull City are also on 15 points but have a game in hand, with Tim Walter under growing pressure ahead of Sunday’s visit of West Brom to the MKM Arena.