West Brom inflicted just a second Championship defeat of the season on Ipswich and became the first team to stop the Tractor Boys scoring in a league match as they ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

Darnell Furlong headed the hosts in front after just five minutes from Matt Phillips’ corner. Albion started the second half quickly, too, and doubled their advantage in the 47th minute through a well-worked counter-attack finished off by Grady Diangana.

It was a night when the Baggies only strengthened their own promotion credentials against Kieran McKenna’s high-fliers.

While fellow pace-setters Leicester returned to winning ways earlier in the day with a straightforward victory over Watford, Ipswich were also motivated by Leeds dropping points at Rotherham on Friday night and the opportunity to extend the gap to the chasing pack.

They were behind, though, within five minutes at The Hawthorns. Jed Wallace’s excellent cross from the right was just out of reach of Brandon Thomas-Asante, but the hosts nodded themselves in front from the following corner. Phillips delivered to the near post and Furlong tore away to meet it before glancing the ball into the far corner.

Albion had conceded just a single goal across their last five home matches before Saturday evening so Ipswich – who had lost just one of their first 16 league outings on their return to the Championship – would have to produce what many of their rivals had failed to.

West Brom, under Carlos Corberan, are mounting a top-six effort of their own and can be a belligerent unit on home soil.

McKenna’s side had few openings in the first half in which the home side were content to allow the visitors to see more of the ball. They were then sucker-punched at the beginning of the second half.

From their own corner, Ipswich were undone. West Brom broke away from deep inside their own half and the front three of Wallace, Thomas-Asante and Diangana combined. Thomas-Asante slipped Diangana in, inside the area, and he applied the finishing touch.

West Brom really should have killed the game moments later. Wallace was again sent sprinting down the right and he sprung into the penalty area. The Albion captain’s low cross ought to have been tapped in from close range by fellow winger Phillips, but he actually diverted the ball away from goal.

It would not prove costly as West Brom were good value for victory and might have won by more, but what they did produce was enough to send them up to fifth.

Carlos Corberan pointed to an increasing self-belief after West Brom snapped Preston’s unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship season with an emphatic 4-0 away win.

The Baggies took a fourth-minute lead when Darnell Furlong drilled home a shot from 22 yards, before further strikes from Alex Mowatt, Matt Phillips and Kyle Bartley completed a great afternoon for the visitors.

The result marks West Brom’s first win since August 26 and lifts them back to within touching distance of the play-offs, while Preston remain third in the table after six wins and two draws prior to this humbling.

“Defensively and attacking, that was a fantastic performance,” Corberan said.

“I was delighted to see complete effort and commitment from all the players, and that was exactly what I had been after.

“I’ve told the players previously that they need to believe in themselves and that belief was there for everyone to see today.

“Perhaps at times we needed to do more things during the game, but I cannot be critical after a victory like that.

“I was so pleased to see every player competing from the very first minute to the last. There are different challenges in this division too.

“We met those today, but we all know the physical demands of the Championship.”

After a frustrating September, where West Brom lost to Huddersfield and drew with Bristol City and Watford, Corberan hopes they can make up for lost time and rack up some wins.

They have three home games to come in their next four league fixtures, starting with Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.

“Games are coming at us all the time, and we have to cope with that,” he said.

“We knew exactly how tough it was going to be to come here and get a result.

“Preston have had a great start to the season, and their players will never give anything up.

“Their high intensity was something else we knew we needed to match but we did that and this has been a fantastic result.

“We need to take this positive feeling into the next games now.”

While Corberan hopes the result is a landmark moment in their season, Preston manager Ryan Lowe plans to forget it as soon as possible.

They face tricky away games at Leicester and Ipswich before the international break and Lowe insists they cannot dwell on the defeat for too long.

“We were nowhere near the levels I expect from the lads, but you have to remember West Brom are a really good team full of good players,” he said.

“They’re well coached, you can see that but I was also proud and pleased that our lads didn’t give up – we kept going right until the end.

“We’ve been terrific so far this season. We’re still in a great position, we’ve only lost one game.

“We’ve lost three points, not six or nine, so it’s not all negatives. The lads know they weren’t good enough today, but we won’t linger on it.

“I’ve told them all that I want lots of smiles on faces on Monday morning, and there will be. The manner of the defeat was a big disappointment, but credit to West Brom.

“Ultimately we’ve just lost one game – today has just been one of those days.”