Preston North End manager Alan Irvine has urged his side to learn from Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Watford by getting back to basics.

Strikes from Billy Jones and Ross Wallace either side of half time earned the Lilywhites just their second win in eight Coca-Cola Championship outings and boss Irvine insists his side can now go on to challenge for promotion to the Premier League next term.

”The half-time talk was all about settling down and saying ‘if you are a little bit nervous, concentrate on the simple things’,” said Irvine.

”I felt we tried some needlessly intricate things in the opening half when there were easier options on.

”I put an awful lot of emphasis on these two games and I told the players this could define how our season is going to go - whether we are challenging at the top end or battling at the bottom end,” added Irvine.

The North End boss was also full of praise for on-loan Hull defender Wayne Brown.

The 31-year-old, who arrived on an initial one-month loan deal from the top-flight’s surprise package on Monday, was thrown straight into the starting line-up as Irvine looked to stop the rot which had seen his side win just one of their last seven league outings.

”I believe that centre-backs get better with age and I think a mark of that is that you never see them at a stretch and that’s purely down to experience,” said Irvine.

”I think the other players appreciated it as well. He was a very calming influence in there tonight and it could be a coincidence we kept a clean sheet but it might not be.

”He was always in control,”

Victory for Preston catapults them up to 11th in the Coca-Cola Championship standings and to within two points of the play-off places.