Preston are the new Championship leaders after Paul Gallagher's penalty earned them a 1-0 win at Charlton.

Gallagher's penalty after Charlton captain Jason Pearce had brought down Jayden Stockley was enough to take Preston above previous leaders Leeds on goal difference for the first time since 2006, and deliver a fine statement less than 24 hours after the club rebuffed an approach from Stoke for manager Alex Neil.

They had the better of the chances in both halves, with Tom Barkhuizen denied by Dillon Phillips at his near post and wayward with a header from Ben Pearson's inviting cross.

Ben Purrington forced Declan Rudd into a save at the other end but despite having plenty of the ball in attacking areas it proved Charlton's only shot on target of the afternoon, as they remained three points off the play-off places with one win from their last six games.

Preston reach league summit

Some 13 years since they last led the Championship, Saturday's results gave Preston the chance to rise to the top if they picked up three points at The Valley, against a Charlton side who had only won one of their previous five games.

And they began in the ascendancy, testing Dillon Phillips with a Darnell Fisher free-kick, but soon found themselves a man light after Daniel Johnson was forced off. Before replacement Gallagher entered the field Charlton wrestled the momentum back in their favour.

Chelsea loanee Connor Gallagher was at the heart of their attacking play and played a part in their best moment of the half, when his blocked shot was moved into Purrington's path, and he pulled a low save out of Rudd from a tight angle.

With Preston back to their full complement, Barkhuizen twice passed up good opportunities to open the scoring, first sending a free shot from a low cross straight at Phillips before nodding over a glorious chance from a brilliant Pearson delivery.

Image: Paul Gallagher was hooked 29 minutes into Preston's previous game, but came off the bench to score the winner

The second half continued in the same vein with Preston displaying no sign of nerves about the chance to top the table, and 13 minutes into the second half Pearce had his hands all over Stockley from Davies' delivery, and offered little protest when referee David Webb pointed to the spot, before substitute Gallagher converted confidently from 12 yards.

Stockley could have got a goal of his own soon after but nodded an excellent Pearson free-kick against the top of the bar and over, while Charlton struggled to break down the Preston back-line at the other end.

As they grew in urgency with the game drawing towards its close the hosts were almost caught out on the break when Barkhuizen skipped away down the right before drawing another save out of Phillips.

But they came even closer themselves to an equaliser in the last of seven additional minutes when a well-placed corner was smashed wide from close-range by Purrington.

What the managers said...

Lee Bowyer: "I thought we were sloppy from start to finish, gave the ball away too much and complicated the game. All those things aren't what we're about. I'm disappointed to lose to a penalty, my captain's made a bad decision there, and there's a few reasons we ended up losing.

"We had some good chances, didn't take them, it was a combination. We have to be at it every single game, and when we're not we don't do so well."

Alex Neil: "We're up there at the moment, so why can't we stay there? Look at Sheffield United last year and Norwich, I don't think many people tipped them to go up. I don't see why not.

"I don't think necessarily the best squad in terms of finance wins this league, it's the best team. The team that has different ways of playing; today we went very direct to Jayden, we've got a variety of different ways of playing and we've shown that."

Man of the match - Paul Gallagher

From zero to hero. Hooked 29 minutes into last weekend's win over Blackburn, Gallagher held no grudges when he was called from the bench half an hour in to replace the injured Daniel Johnson.

He got his just reward after half-time too, slotting home the winning penalty, but also made the most chances in the game and put in a shift defensively too, making the joint-highest number of interceptions.