Thierry Small's sensational early strike set the tone as Preston moved up to fourth after beating Swansea 2-1 at Deepdale.

The 21-year-old let fly with an eighth-minute arrow from 30 yards to open the scoring and Milutin Osmajic got the decisive strike with a somewhat scruffier second after 49 minutes, his fourth goal of the season but his first since August 23.

Eom Ji-Sung came off the bench to halve the arrears with a curling strike from range with 10 minutes of regular time to go but North End held out for victory.

It was the third league win in a row for Paul Heckingbottom's men, the first time that has happened under the former Sheffield United manager's stewardship, with Swansea left languishing in 17th.

It was quite appropriate that on bonfire night, Small set the game alight with a long-range rocket that flew past the long frame of Lawrence Vigouroux and into the top corner after Kaelan Casey only half-cleared his lines.

Other than that moment of ingenuity, the opening 25 minutes lacked sparkle but Daniel Iversen had to be on his toes to beat away Adam Idah's cross-cum-shot after the Swansea striker took advantage of Liam Lindsay's concentration lapse.

The...