Preston North End 3-0 Cardiff City

Cardiff's deadline-day signing from West Brom, Rickie Lambert (left), challenges Preston's Alan Browne

Preston North End claimed their second win of the season against Cardiff City, who lost a third Championship match in a row.

Captain Tom Clarke fired Preston in front from close range and Callum Robinson added a second before half-time.

The hosts sealed victory with Jordan Hugill's emphatic late finish.

Cardiff drop to 21st in the table, only clear of the bottom three on goal difference.

Preston dominated throughout and took the lead after 36 minutes, when a fumble from Cardiff goalkeeper Ben Wilson allowed Clarke to score his first goal since 2014.

The home side were further ahead just five minutes later as Robinson struck with a low finish.

Cardiff head coach Paul Trollope abandoned his favoured 5-3-2 formation to a 4-3-3 at half-time and the switch prompted an improved performance after the restart.

However, Preston continued to threaten and were close to scoring a third when Paul Gallagher's free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar.

The Lilywhites' domination was eventually rewarded when Hugill struck with a powerful long-range effort.

What the managers said

Preston manager Simon Grayson: "I'm really pleased, you can't fault anything that we've done.

"It's an addition to how we played in the second half against Barnsley, we carried that forward. We've spoken about it a lot with the players and watched it again a couple of times and kept on telling them to believe that what they're doing is the right thing.

"Nobody's happy with the start we've had. There have been frustrations for everybody, but we've known what we've been trying to do.

Cardiff City boss Paul Trollope: "It was absolutely our worst performance of the season, especially in the first period. We lacked a lot of things with and without the ball.

"As normal, the team were fully prepared and ready for the challenge ahead and we didn't get anywhere near the level that we want and expect.

"We didn't have the basics in place in terms of defensive responsibility, defensive desire, so for those two things not to come together in the first period was very disappointing.

"Apologies to the travelling supporters because they've travelled a long way on a Tuesday night and they've seen a performance that was unacceptable."