Preston North End's Lewis Dobbin scoring with his left foot against Bristol City.Shutterstock

Lewis Dobbin opened the scoring with his sixth Championship goal of the season

Matthew Cresswell
BBC Sport England

Preston North End climbed to fourth in the Championship table with an impressive victory at promotion rivals Bristol City.

On-loan Aston Villa winger Lewis Dobbin put the Lilywhites ahead after just eight minutes when he slid the ball home past on-rushing City keeper Max O'Leary.

Another Premier League youngster, Alfie Devine - on loan from Tottenham - doubled Preston's lead after half-time when his accurate low drive found the bottom corner, giving O'Leary little chance.

Defeat for Bristol City, who drop to 10th, means they miss the chance to move into the play-off places on a weather-hit Sunday which saw three games postponed, including an encounter between potential top-six rivals Hull City and Watford.

Dobbin had the first opportunity for the in-form visitors - who have lost just one of their past 10 games - but his strike from range went just wide of the top corner.

Minutes later, though, Dobbin did break the deadlock, fed by midfielder Jordan Thompson - who pounced on a loose kick out by O'Leary - before finishing calmly one-on-one with the City keeper.

Robins defender Rob Atkinson strode forward as the hosts sought a response but he fired his shot wide of the Preston left-hand upright.

O'Leary then picked out Anis Mehmeti, whose cross to the back post looked destined to yield a Scott Twine equaliser but Preston defender Jordan Storey made a vital interception to head the ball away from danger.

Moments after half-time, Preston's Devine hit a warning shot from the left side of the Bristol City penalty area but was narrowly off target.

The hosts, who had thrashed Portsmouth 5-0 just three days earlier, made a triple change in a bid to turn the tide and former Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, on his Bristol City debut, shot just wide from outside the box moments after coming on.

But with 20 minutes left, Devine wrapped up the points for Preston with a fine finish across the face of O'Leary's goal.

In the latter stages, City substitute Sam Bell went close to halving the hosts' deficit but his shot was well kept out by Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen, who preserved a third clean sheet in four games.

'We were not ruthless enough today' - Struber

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Big frustration. My boys are really disappointed right now. Between the two boxes, we created a good game but we made it easy for them, the goals that they scored.

"These two times, we were not sharp enough to come out and clear the moments. I think we could be more pragmatic in these moments.

"In the opponents' box, we were not ruthless or clinical enough today. Preston are a really good, organised team, with great physical power, and the early goal did not help us today."

On Sam Morsy's debut: "There were really good actions, really good developments in his game, exactly the picture I would have of him."

Struber: "We make it easy for them today"

'A really strong away performance' - Heckingbottom

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"A really strong away performance. Some big individual performances as well, and a good finish to these four games we've had in 10 days.

"We've had six days of travelling and three overnight stays so it's big credit to all the group because everyone on the pitch has been fantastic.

"I thought we were dangerous all game and probably the only blemish on that game was not creating more goalscoring opportunities.

"I consider Bristol [City] one of the most dangerous teams in the league for two main reasons - how they counter-press and how they counter. They've had the most shots on target from counter-attacks, second-most clear-cut chances in the league, which shows you how dangerous they are and shows you how well we defended."

Heckingbottom: 'Really strong away performance'

Player of the match

A. Devine
9.29
4 A. Randell
5.17
20 S. Bell
5.08
2 R. McCrorie
5.00
16 R. Dickie
4.89
40 Sam Morsy
4.86
12 J. Knight
4.71
30 S. Armstrong
4.50
10 S. Twine
4.43
5 R. Atkinson
4.20
21 Neto Borges
4.20
11 A. Mehmeti
4.15
3 C. Pring
4.08
1 M. O’Leary
3.84
14 Z. Vyner
3.78
18 E. Riis
3.50
7 Y. Hirakawa
3.00
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