Two late goals helped Bristol City secure back-to-back Championship wins as they saw off spirited Preston 3-1 at Deepdale.

Scott Twine had tapped City into a fourth-minute lead but the Lilywhites fought back strongly and Caleb Wiley slammed them level with a 51st-minute rocket.

Lisav Eissat's looping 79th-minute header crushed North End hearts before Dom Ballard coolly bagged his second goal of the season, albeit less spectacularly than his stunner against Birmingham, to secure the victory seven minutes later.

The night started woefully for the hosts as Lorent Tolaj picked out Twine with an inviting centre and the ex-Burnley man gobbled up from close range with a first-time finish.

Despite the shocking start, North End should have levelled minutes later as Jusef Erabi failed to properly connect with Liam Lindsay's inch-perfect delivery with the goal gaping.

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The hosts continued to take the game to their opponents and went close twice in quick succession as Sam Tickle did well to turn Jordan Thompson's free-kick over the bar before Delano Burgzorg beat the 24-year-old with a header across the goal from Harry Clarke's cross, only to be denied by the foot of a post.

Those early chances seemed to wake the Robins up and former Preston loanee Sam Greenwood stung the palms of Daniel Iversen with a 25th-minute snapshot from the edge of the box having been teed up by Twine.

Nonetheless, an all-action Thompson was trying his best to drag his side level, thundering a 30-yard howitzer narrowly over the bar in the 35th minute while Greenwood again fired straight into Iversen's hands.

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Wind kept very much in the sails of Paul Heckingbottom's men after the break and they could have scored twice before they did, Clarke heading Thompson's corner wide from close range and then through Alfie Devine, who failed on several occasions to pull the trigger in the box before eventually being blocked by Tickle.

But that pressure eventually did pay dividends as Wiley caught everybody by surprise with a sensational drive from range that nestled into the corner.

Preston fans were even more buoyant on the 68th minute as a big screen announcement confirmed they had signed two new players on deadline day but that euphoria almost turned sour within a minute as Tolaj broke clear on goal, only for Iversen's leg to keep out his effort.

Michael Skubala's team were steadily growing back into the game and killed Preston off with two late sucker punches.

Eissat expertly looped Rio Cardines' free-kick out of Iversen's reach to put his team ahead and Ballard pounced on some suspect defending to round the goalkeeper and score a third, condemning Preston to a fourth straight loss.

The managers

Preston's Paul Heckingbottom:

"It's always about results. You've heard me say over and over again that it's determined in both boxes and there's a great example of that today.

"We created a lot of chances and didn't take them and they did. Simple. I felt we should've been in front at half time. We're not.

"We started the second half really well, missed some more chances and then scored a goal and then [a] set play, always crucial, and a mistake.

"While they were dangerous and Bristol [City] always carry a threat, throughout the last few years, they've always been a really good counter-attacking team in transition, we carried equally as much threat if not more.

"I thought we lost our way a bit towards the end in terms of energy when we were trying to make subs. We still huffed and puffed and still hit the post but I didn't think we carried the same threat."

Bristol City's Michael Skubala:

"Away games in the Championship are always tough. [Those games] can be on a knife edge. They probably had the better first half. We scored a good breakaway goal in transition; we look threatening in transition at the moment.

"We changed shape at half-time and I think the subs that came on really affected the game in a positive way and the goals were good. All in all, a good performance, but that's what it's sometimes like in the Championship.

"The [Preston] goal was outside the box. We didn't start the second half as well as we'd have wanted because we'd actually changed shape because we pressed in the way we wanted but didn't give it enough time to grow.

"But we put the subs on and they punched back and that's important for me, that if it's one-all, we make positive changes to try and win the game."

What the result means and next fixtures...

• Championship fixtures

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