Middlesbrough defeat a lesson says Preston North End midfielder Ben Whiteman

Chuba Akpom scored in the first half to give the home side the lead before former PNE striker Cameron Archer netted twice to take the game away from the visitors, making it 3-0.

Bambo Diaby was sent off in the final few minutes of regulation time before Marcus Forss added a fourth goal in second half stoppage time for Michael Carrick’s side.

Boro are a side pushing for the automatic promotion spots and Whiteman felt that North End were taught a lesson by one of the best sides the Championship currently has to offer.

He said: “If you look at the goals, the first one, could we avoid it? Probably, but it's a good bit of play from them. You come out for the second half and you want to give it a good go but then you concede within 10 minutes. It's one of them, you can't come to these places and give teams a 2-0 head start. It's an uphill battle from there. We'll dust ourselves down and come back after the international break.

“It's a tough one to take. We were rash in the way that we defended as a team, as a whole. It's one of those that you just have to move on now. We were in good form coming into the game but today was probably a bit of a lesson really.

"They're a very good team, they're up there for a reason. Ched is a massive miss in the way we want to play. He's been outstanding all season, he's vital.

The game at the Riverside was chosen this season for Gentry Day and over 1,700 of the Lilywhites’ faithful made the trip to the North East to support their side, that is, without any rail transport available on the day.

Whiteman was appreciative of the away following, which was very vocal throughout the game, despite watching their side get outclassed.

“I thought they were outstanding, even when you're three or four down you can hear them chanting away. It's a disappointing day and we thank them for coming,” Whiteman said.