Middlesbrough have avoided a shock in the League Cup this evening, beating Preston North End 3-1 at Deepdale.

The visitors took the lead after just 13 minutes when Emmanuel Ledesma fired his low strike past Steve Simonsen from just outside the box.

Simonson was beaten again just five minutes later when Merouane Zemmama struck a fine effort from outside the box and into the bottom left corner.

The hosts got a goal back five minutes before the break when David Amoo found Jack King inside the penalty area, and the midfielder made no mistake.

Boro restored their two-goal cushion on the hour mark, however, when Richard Smallwood followed up to make it 3-1.

Preston had no response to this and Middlesbrough progressed comfortably into round four.