Crawley failed to score for the fourth away league game in a row as they went down 2-0 at Preston North End.

Bailey Wright gave Preston the lead in the first half and Joe Garner made sure of the points after the break when he fired home from the penalty spot.

Crawley had created some good chances in the first half as Gwion Edwards troubled the Preston defence but were ultimately well beaten.

The result saw Crawley slip to 19th spot in League One with Preston climbing to eighth.

Edwards made a bright start on his return from an ankle injury which had kept him out of the previous two games.

The winger saw his shot deflected just wide after a clever free kick from Conor Henderson and then fizzed a long range shot inches off target.

Reds would have been delighted with the opening 20 minutes as they coped well with everything Preston could throw at them.

The home side began to turn up the pressure though and Joe Garner almost gave them the lead with a fine header midway through the half only to be denied by an excellent save from Jamie Ashdown.

It proved only a temporary reprieve for Crawley as Preston scored a minute later. The resulting corner was only half cleared and when the ball came back in it fell to Wright who swept a low shot home from ten yards.

Reds have lost every game they have fallen behind in this season but responded well and were so close to levelling almost immediately when Henderson’s whipped free kick was headed against his own crossbar by Garner.

In the end Crawley were fortunate to go in just 1-0 down at the interval with Preston failing to punish them for three defensive mistakes.

First Alan Browne mishit his shot after Marvin Elliott had given the ball away in his own half and then Will Hayhurst failed to hit the target from ten yards when Ashdown flapped at a cross.

The best chance arrived on the stroke of half-time when Dean Leacock inexplicably gifted the ball to Browne near the far corner flag and was only spared by a superb block by Mat Sadler to deny Garner.

Preston took control after the break but had to wait until the 64th minute to establish a two-goal cushion.

Mat Sadler was adjudged to handle a low cross from Paul Gallagher as he tangled with Garner and Garner stepped up to blast the penalty into the roof of the net.

Gallagher nearly made it 3-0 with a low shot which flew just wide while Edwards almost grabbed a consolation in the 90th minute when his shot deflected the wrong side of the far post.

Preston (4-3-3): Jones; Woods, Clarke, Wright, Buchanan (Laird, 46); Kilkenny, Browne, Brownhill; Gallagher, Garner, Hayhurst (Humphrey, 74). Subs not used: Stuckmann, Wiseman, Reid, King, Robinson.

Crawley (4-1-4-1): Ashdown; Smith, Leacock, Walsh, Sadler; Elliott; Tomlin (Harrold, 62), Bawling (Young, 84), Henderson (Wright, 55), Edwards; McLeod. Subs not used: Jensen, Bradley, Banya, O’Connor.