Andrew Hughes set the ball rolling for Preston with his fourth goal of the season

Preston North End scored three goals in the opening 27 minutes at Millwall to extend their unbeaten run to eight games.

Andrew Hughes gave the Lilywhites the lead in the third minute when he sent a first-time volley into the bottom corner after the Lions had failed to clear a free-kick.

Tom Clarke doubled the visitors' lead with a back-post header from Paul Gallagher's corner, and Sean Maguire then latched on to a Gallagher through ball to dink home and make it 3-0 before the half-hour was up.

Ben Thompson pulled a goal back midway through the second half when he smashed home from Steve Morison's knockdown, but the midfielder had a second ruled out for offside as Millwall tried to mount a comeback.

Victory moved Preston up to 10th, six points off the play-offs, while Millwall are now four points above the relegation zone after Rotherham drew at Reading.

Neil Harris' side had ended a five-match winless league run with victory at Derby in midweek, but the Lions paid the price for their sluggish start.

Millwall may have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, with a home tie against Premier League side Brighton to come on Sunday, 17 March, but their form in the Championship has been patchy since the turn of the year.

The south-east Londoners have scored just three goals in their past seven Championship games, and Thompson's strike was their first home league goal of 2019 in what was their fourth outing at The Den.

Alex Neil's Preston, meanwhile, are making a late bid for the play-offs as the Lilywhites recorded their fourth consecutive away league victory - the first time they have achieved that feat in the top two tiers since November 1959.

Millwall manager Neil Harris:

"The second goal was embarrassing. The players didn't do what they were supposed to. We were lacklustre first half - we didn't get out the traps.

"The players got a reminder at half-time about what it means to play for this club. You can't give teams three-goal headstarts in this division. I'll praise them for the second half, but not the first. We were terrible.

"Preston were good today, but it was more that we were really poor. We let ourselves down.

"Hull (on Tuesday) is the third game in six days, so I'll have to think not just about the physical aspect of it, but the disappointing performances of some of the players. I'll certainly take my time in considering my starting 11."

Preston manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"It was one of our best performances, in terms of the first half. I thought we took Millwall apart and we could have scored more than three. The only disappointing thing was second half, we need to show more composure - I thought we tried to turn the ball too much.

"I've been saying for a while we're probably one wide player short and I thought that came home to roost today in terms of wanting to keep pace at the top end, because that was hurting them, but also wanting to keep the full-backs in place on the flanks.

"If you offered me 3-1 beforehand I'd certainly have taken it because this is a tough venue to come and win. Inevitably when you've got something to protect - and you can hear the (Millwall) fans are really demanding of their team, naturally the players are going to respond and react to that.

"We just needed to take a little bit more care, have a bit more incisiveness with the pass, take an extra touch and move the ball."