Three first-half goals and another in second-half stoppage-time saw Preston North End beaten by Middlesbrough on the road.

Boro scored their first three within the space of 21 first-half minutes, with Rav van den Berg netting in the middle of two close-range finishes from Isaiah Jones.

A double change at the break appeared to spark more life into North End, but they couldn’t make a dent on the scoreline and were beaten 4-0 at the Riverside, after a 94^th-minute strike from Alex Bangura.

There wasn’t really any action in either area during the first 15 minutes on a cold night, but PNE were caught napping a minute later when Matt Crooks’ pass found Jones in behind Kian Best, and he took a touch before beating Freddie Woodman.

Ten minutes on, Ryan Ledson came up with a vital piece of defensive work to throw himself in front of Crooks’ effort to divert it wide.

However, from the resulting corner Boro did find their second of the evening as Woodman couldn’t deal with the corner and van den Berg bundled it home.

North End’s first chance of the night saw Mads Frøkjær have a volley blocked from the edge of the area and captain Ben Whiteman then curled over when the ball fell his way.

The hosts went three ahead in the 37^th minute as Morgan Rogers slipped a pass round Liam Lindsay and Jones deftly lifted over Woodman for his second of the night.

The lively winger might well have completed his hat-trick just two minutes later as a ball straight down the middle opened up the PNE defence, but North End’s No.1 came out on top to prevent any further damage before the break, and also went on to tip wide from Morgan Rogers.

Ryan Lowe opted for a double change at half-time as Calvin Ramsay came on for his PNE debut while Ched Evans replaced Milutin Osmajić, who had limped off at the end of the first period, and North End started to look more lively.

Best was causing trouble down the left with his deliveries, forcing the hosts into conceding corners, while Ramsay’s introduction meant Potts was able to move into a higher midfield role.

The visitors would have liked to have troubled Seny Dieng in goal more, though, with the first shot on target of the night seeing Mads Frøkjær’s 71^st-minute strike comfortably kept out.

At the other end, a PNE defensive wall did its job to flick Sam Greenwood’s 20-yard free-kick over the bar, while Lindsay then denied Greenwood by getting his body in the way of a closer-range effort.

Woodman saved well ten minutes from time to prevent Emmanuel Latte Lath beating him at his near post, but he couldn’t prevent Bangura in the fourth minute of stoppage-time from adding to an emphatic victory for the hosts.

Middlesbrough line-up: Dieng; Dijksteel, van den Berg, McNair (Clarke, 82), Bangura; Barlaser, Howson (McCabe, 88); Rogers (Greenwood, 70), Crooks (Gilbert, 82), Jones (Silvera, 70); Latte Lath. Subs not used: Gover, Coburn, Coulson, Cartwright.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Whiteman, Ledson (Whatmough, 88), Best; Keane (Ramsay, 45), Frokjær (Stewart, 88); Osmajić (Evans, 45). Subs not used: Cornell, Bauer, Browne, Holmes.

Attendance: 24,502 (469 PNE fans).

Referee: Mr A Kitchen.