Michael Carrick has saluted his injury-hit squad for delivering Middlesbrough’s biggest home win of the season against an out-of-sorts Preston.
The Lilywhites, who started the evening sixth, had no answer to Boro’s first half display that earned them a three-goal advantage at the break.
Preston struggled to make an impact in the final third and were cut open too easily by a home side, who won 4-0 and closed the gap to the Sky Bet Championship play-off zone to three points.
Middlesbrough winger Isaiah Jones’ calmly-taken double in the 16th and 37th minutes sandwiched Rav van den Berg’s first senior goal in the 26th minute after he scored from a corner.
Even though the points had already been secured at half-time, Middlesbrough full-back Alex Bangura curled in from just inside the area to make it 4-0 in the fourth minute of added-time at the end of the contest.
And Carrick, whose side head to fourth-placed Leeds on Saturday, said: “We played well in spells, that’s football. Performance-wise we have played better in some games, but goals at both ends tell the story.
“We were ruthless, we created and defended very well in terms of limiting them. It was a new back four who hadn’t played together before, they played well.
“We will definitely take 4-0. I can’t fault the boys, sometimes it will work and sometimes it might go against us.
“I was confident going into the game, there was good balance even if it was quite new in terms of the changes. I thought we were in good shape and that proved to be the case.
“We lost Dael Fry and Hayden Hackney (groin and hamstring injuries) from Saturday, it tends to be the way we are going. We had eight senior players out tonight.
“That’s why the squad is vital and we can’t make excuses. The boys cracked on and we are now preparing for Saturday.”
Preston have now won just two of their last 11 matches having started the season with six wins from the opening seven fixtures.
Boss Ryan Lowe, whose side did not record a shot on target until the final 20 minutes, said: “I’m angry, disappointed, but they are my group of players, win, lose or draw.
“There were harsh words in the dressing room. They have given us some fantastic football, but when we went one down there was fear that set in.
“The first half performance was nowhere near the levels we expect. If we want to keep being a mid-table team those are mid-table performances, but we don’t want to be that team.
“The lads know that the first half was nowhere near the levels we require.
“We came here with full belief we could challenge. Boro are not the formidable side from last season, even though they still have good players and a fantastic coach, but I expect us to be better.
“I will stick with the players. They know it is not good enough. We have let everyone down and what we have to do now is put it right as quickly as we can.
“I will give them the benefit of the doubt tonight, but if we don’t get it right then we will flip it around because we want to keep progressing. The first 45 minutes was not acceptable.”
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
Leeds' belief never wavered as Wembley beckons
Ethan Ampadu said Leeds United's players never let their belief waver despite a poor end to their Championship campaign, with a trip to Wembley now coming up.
Leeds will face either Southampton or West Brom in the play-off final on May 26 after thrashing Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday.
The Whites endured a miserable end to their campaign, losing 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers before going down at home to Southampton on the final day, as Ipswich Town claimed automatic promotion behind Leicester City.
But after their emphatic defeat of the Canaries, who they drew with 0-0 in the first leg, Ampadu claimed Leeds never lost their way.
"Towards the end of the season there was a lot of talk about how we were playing, how we weren't on the front foot, how we weren't aggressive or clinical," he told Sky Sports.
"But we always had our belief that on our day, when we are firing, we can be hard for anyone to play against.
"When the front four, five, six play like that, they make the job of us defenders a lot easier.
"Whoever we play in the final it's going to be a hard game but to go in like this, to put in a performance like this, we can take momentum and confidence into it.
"The fans were second to none and we enjoyed their support – now we are going to prepare for the big one."
Georginio Rutter scored one and set up another in the rout, and he put the onus on Leeds to replicate the same level at Wembley.
"It's incredible. Today we go to Wembley," he said.
"We played a good game. I'm happy, everybody is happy. One more game and we will see.
"We played very good. 4-0 is a clean sheet. Today, we were mature. It's a very good performance from the team.
"I want to try my best and help the team. If we play like this [at the final], we have a good chance but we have to play like this."
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