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Southampton 3-0 Preston North End: Che Adams scores twice as Saints' automatic promotion hopes grow again

  /  autty

Southampton's hopes of automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship picked up more pace on Tuesday night as they eased to a 3-0 win over Preston.

The result sees Russell Martin's men move to within four points of second-placed Leicester.

In an overwhelmingly dominant first half where Saints racked up 14 shots, Che Adams' cool double put them two in front, before Stuart Armstrong seized on a mistake at the back to curl home a third.

They were unable to add a fourth in an uneventful second half but, with next to no threat from Preston, those three goals sealed a third straight win to put pressure on the current top three.

Preston's chances of reaching the play-offs now appear to be all but over, with nine points separating them from Norwich in sixth and just three games remaining.

More to follow...

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Southampton's Russell Martin:

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Preston's Ryan Lowe:

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