It’s wham Bam for Patrick

Preston 0 Leeds 2

PATRICK BAMFORD’S brilliant brace lifted Leeds back into the top two with a priceless three points against 10-man Preston.

The striker curled home a superb finish after 62 minutes then headed in with 14 minutes to go as Leeds made the most of Ben Pearson’s stupid red card.

Preston’s play-off dreams took a hammer blow here on Saturday when they lost 1-0 to Sheffield United.

That result also affected Leeds as it helped the Blades leapfrog them back into second in the Championship.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men looked desperate to make amends for losing at Birmingham.

But there was nothing in it as two quality Championship sides nervously slugged it out until Pearson’s dismissal turned the match. Lukas Nmecha went closest to opening the scoring early on as he smashed wide from close range and real was thin on the ground as the match waited to settle down.

Mateusz Klich nearly grabbed an opener for Leeds after half an hour when he threaded a shot just wide.

Four minutes after the break, Pearson dragged down Bamford, who was through on goal, and received a straight red card.

That gave Leeds a huge lift and they poured forward. Bamford (above) made the difference, shooting from outside the box to give Declan Rudd no chance. And victory was secured when an unmarked Bamford calmly nodded in from 12 yards.

PRESTON: Rudd 6, Fisher 6, Storey 6, Davies 6, Earl 7; Pearson 4, Nmecha 6, Browne 6, Johnson 5, Robinson 6 (Moult 58, 6), Maguire 6 (Ledson 70, 5)

LEEDS: Casilla 6, Ayling 6, Jansson 7, Cooper 7, Alioski 6, Phillips 6, Hernandez 6, Klich 6, Roberts 6, Harrison 6 (Berardi 77, 6), MOTM Bamford 8

REF: Robert Jones ATT: 18,019