Preston 2 Hull City 1: Dichio doubles Hull's pain

Preston recorded a fifth straight home win thanks to two goals from Danny Dichio much to the manager Paul Simpson's relief. "We wanted to avoid being one of those coupon-buster results," said Simpson referring to Hull's rock- bottom position in the table.

Dichio had gone 41 League games without a goal before last week and wasted no time in adding to his tally as the Tigers' five-man midfield appeared in tatters after 48 seconds. The ball broke to David Nugent and Simon Whaley's scuffed shot fell to Dichio, who made no mistake from just over 10 yards.

Preston should have gone two-up when Nugent showed awesome pace to round Danny Coles, but his shot gave Boaz Myhill a routine stop. Still, after 37 minutes, Dichio pounced again, thumping home Whaley's cross.

Nicky Forster signalled a more attack-minded Hull with a low drive in the first minute of the second period. A looping cross from Danny Mills was then headed straight at Carlo Nash by John Welsh as City pressed.

Their reward came after 58 minutes. A fine move saw Craig Fagan's cross headed back to Welsh, who lashed home his first of the season. It was not enough to spoil Preston's home comforts but Hull's Phil Parkinson took comfort in his players' second-half rally. "We went out and played with conviction and belief and almost got ourselves back in the game," he said.