West Brom picked up a much-needed three points at the weekend, as they beat Preston North End 4-1 at The Hawthorns to strengthen their grip on a play-off place. 

The Baggies dominated for large parts of the game and certainly took their chances in front of goal against a Preston side that struggled to find any real momentum.

James Shan's side raced into a three goal lead in this one, as they headed into the break, courtesy of goals from Jay Rodriguez and a brace from Dwight Gayle.

Gayle then netted his hat-trick after 71 minutes, before Josh Ginnelly scored in injury-time for Alex Neil's side as the Lilywhites were well beaten on the day.

The win means that West Brom remain 4th in the Championship table and will be confident of finishing inside the top six, with a play-off place being confirmed if results go their way this week.

But what have we learnt about West Brom from this latest win?

Find out below....

This win came at the perfect time 

This win couldn't have come at a better time, with the Baggies looking like a team void of any confidence in recent weeks, which will have been a real concern.

They had lost their last two games coming into the game against Preston, but looked like a completely different team as htey swept them aside with ease on the day.

Dwight Gayle looked a class apart 

Gayle has been West Brom's main outlet for goals this season and he showed exactly why in this latest win.

He netted a hat-trick to take his goal tally to 21 for the season and he'll be key to their push for an immediate return to the Premier League as we head towards the conclusion of this year's campaign.

Shan got his team selection spot on 

Shan has come under criticism for his team selections in recent weeks, but his team selected for the win over Preston was perfect by the West Brom boss.

They looked like they were back to their best in this latest win, and Shan will be hoping that his side can build on this impressive showing as the season nears an end.