Preston North End made it back to back wins on Tuesday night, with a 3-0 victory over Barnsley at Oakwell.

After riding out an early spell of Barnsley pressure, all three of North End's goals was come in the first half, with a double from Tom Barkhuizen sandwiching Daniel Johnson's effort to secure a comfortable three points for the visitors.

That result means that Preston have now climbed into the Championship play-off places, albeit having played a game more than the rest of the sides around them in the table.

Even so, there is still plenty for manager Alex Neil to be encouraged about from his side's win in Yorkshire, and here, we've taken a look at three things we learnt about Preston from their latest victory.

It was a show ruthlessness

It didn't take much for Preston to complete that win over Barnsley on Tuesday night, and not just in terms of the time it took them to establish that unassailable three-goal lead in the game.

Indeed, Preston's three goals in that win, came from their only three shots on target across the whole of the 90 minutes at Oakwell, highlighting the fact that they are more than capable of taking the chances that come their way.

Given the concern there has been around the club about a lack of attacking firepower at times in the first half of this season, the ability to take their chances that Preston showed on Tuesday will be a big relief for Neil, suggesting that the attacking options he currently has available can step up and deliver when he really needs them to this season.

A timely individual performance from Tom Barkhuizen

One Preston man who will be particularly pleased with his own performance in this win on Tuesday, is of course, brace scorer Tom Barkhuizen.

Going into the match at Oakwell, Barkhuizen hadn't found the net since another double in a 3-2 win at Blackburn way back in October.

As a result, with Daniel Johnson returning from injury and the recent addition of new signing Scott Sinclair, Barkhuizen may have felt as though his position in Preston's attacking midfield three was starting to come under threat, particularly with the goalscoring contributions of Josh Harrop in the past few games also catching the eye in that position.

Consequentially, his two-goal contribution on Tuesday looks as though it could be particularly timely for Barkhuizen, since it ought to put him right back in the forefront of Neil's mind when it comes to his team selections over the next few weeks.

A much-needed defensive performance

Another aspect of his side's performance that will surely have pleased Neil on Tuesday, is the clean sheet kept by his defence.

Ahead of the match with Barnsley, much had been made of the fact that Preston had found themselves a goal down inside the first 15 minutes of five of their last six games in all competitions, leaving them playing catchup in those games, and going onto win just one of those encounters.

Against Barnsley however, North End were able to ride out that storm in the first quarter of an hour or so, giving them the foundation on which to go on and get that win, as well as a welcome confidence boost at the back you imagine they will now be looking to build on in the coming weeks and months.