Goals from Conor Chaplin, Brandon Williams and Nathan Broadhead have given Town a 3-1 half-time lead over Preston North End at Portman Road.

Town boss Kieran McKenna made two changes from the team which dismantled Hull City 3-0 on Tuesday with Cameron Burgess and Broadhead returning to the XI.

Burgess was back at the centre of the defence for George Edmundson - who was left out of the 20-man squad - with Broadhead returning to the left of the three behind central striker George Hirst, having recovered from his thigh problem in place of Marcus Harness, who was on the bench.

Preston made four changes from the team which lost 3-0 at Leicester on Wednesday with Alan Browne, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen, Ryan Ledson and ex-Blues striker Will Keane returning to the side.

Ben Whiteman, Duane Holmes and Liam Millar dropped to the bench, while Ali McCann was absent from the squad having started on Wednesday. Former Town keeper Dai Cornell is on the bench.

Town started the game in the same impressive slick form they showed throughout Tuesday’s victory over the Tigers.

On seven, a Hull clearance hit Wes Burns in a dangerous area on the right of the box. Preston appealed that it caught the Welshman’s hand and eventually referee David Webb opted to take no chances and give the visitors the decision, much to Town’s frustration.

A minute later, Ryan Ledson fouled Williams out wide on the right and picked up the game’s first yellow card with the Sir Bobby Robson Stand calling for a more significant sanction and Lilywhites players claiming the on-loan Manchester United man had dived.

Soon after, Chaplin was fouled with Preston seemingly wanting to break up Town’s early game flow while sitting deep to try and frustrate.

Town were dominating but without having created a chance, aside from a Burns effort from distance which was blocked. Balls in from the flanks had unerringly found Preston players.

However, in the 18th minute, the Blues took the lead. Davis played a corner low towards Chaplin just to the left of the penalty spot and the forward smashed home his fifth goal of the season to send Portman Road wild.

It was a terrific finish to a corner routine Town have tried on a number of occasions over the last couple of seasons, Lee Evans having scored in similar fashion against Bolton on the opening day of last season.

The Blues were an inch or two away from a second in the 21st minute when Broadhead spotted Preston keeper Freddie Woodman off his line and from not far in front of the dugouts sought to lift the ball over the glovesman, however, the ball floated narrowly wide.

A minute later, Williams burst away down the right at pace and beat Preston defender Liam Lindsay to the ball, the former Barnsley man sending the Town right-back flying. Lindsay was booked before Davis overhit his free-kick beyond Broadhead at the far post.

Preston, who had been forced to swap the injured Jack Whatmough for Patrick Bauer on 26, had seen little of the ball in the Town half but in the 27th minute they levelled.

A long ball played forward left Burgess in two minds and Mads Frøkjær-Jensen flicked on to Milutin Osmanjic. The ball struck Davis, then fell back to Frökjaer-Jensen, who shot across Vaclav Hladky and into the net.

It was a scruffy goal with perhaps a hint of offside about it, but from a Town perspective it was a very poor one to concede.

Town set about getting ahead once again and should have netted their second in the 29th minute when Broadhead played in Hirst just inside the area. The striker twisted and feinted and worked himself space for a clear shot at goal but scuffed his effort through to Woodman when he will feel he should have scored.

On 31, Alan Browne joined his two teammates in referee Webb’s book for a foul on Broadhead just outside the area, the Wales international hitting his free-kick well over.

The Blues claimed a penalty in the 34th minute when Massimo Luongo ended up on the turf as he looked to battle through a number of Preston players on the left of the box but it would have been a harsh one to have been awarded and most of the appeals came from the crowd.

But the Town support only had to wait another minute for their side’s second of the afternoon and what a goal it was.

Williams picked up the ball from Burns on halfway - the Welshmen subsequently receiving an off-the-ball elbow from Robbie Brady - and the on-loan Manchester United man brought it forward at pace before hitting a low shot across Woodman and into the net off the inside of the post.

Portman Road has seen some great goals this season and Williams’s second for the club was another to add to the collection.

Ahead of the restart, Burns spoke to referee Webb regarding the elbow incident and the official had words with Brady but evidently couldn’t have seen it as no card of either colour was issued. Had it been spotted that Preston would have had to play out the rest of the game with 10 men.

There was another moment of Town defensive scruffiness in the 38th minute, the Blues failing to clear and allowing Osmanjic a shot from just inside the area to the right which fortunately he scraped well wide of goal.

In the final scheduled minute, Broadhead curled a shot from just outside the area to the left which a deflection took behind.

And following the resultant corner, taken seconds after the announcement of five additional minutes, the Blues scored their third of the afternoon.

Davis’s deep cross from the right was headed back across goal by Burgess, Hirst deftly nodded down at the near post and Broadhead tapped home his fifth goal of the season from a couple of inches.

Town were completely dominant in the closing minutes with Burns hitting a low shot which Woodman saved, before a Chaplin effort was stopped and then moments before the end Burns curled an effort from just outside the area on the left which the Preston keeper batted away.

The half-time whistle, which was greeted by applause and cheers by the Town support, will have come as a relief to Preston, who had been completely overwhelmed in the final minutes. Had it been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it at that point.

Town had been every bit as good as they were against Hull on Tuesday against a side which had clearly come to frustrate and spoil. That approach kept the Blues at bay for 18 minutes but Chaplin’s brilliant finish from a well-worked set piece should set Town on their way.

However, the Blues allowed the visitors a poor goal, which might have given Preston a foothold in the game, but as in previous similar situations this season Town kept playing their football and restored their lead via Williams’s brilliant solo goal and then Broadhead’s close-range tap-in.

The points ought to be secure from here with another goal in the second half cementing Town’s ninth win in 11 Championship games this season.

Town: Hladky, Williams, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, Hirst. Subs: Walton, Clarke, Ladapo, Harness, Ball, Taylor, Jackson, Hutchinson, Scarlett.

Preston: Woodman, Whatmough (Bauer 26), Lindsay, Cunningham, Potts, Ledson, Browne, Brady, Frokjaer, Keane, Osmajic. Subs: Cornell, Whiteman, Bauer, Stewart, Woodburn, Miller, Holmes, Best, Mawene. Referee: David Webb (County Durham).

Photo: Matchday Images

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