Callum Lang scored his first two goals for Preston North End to earn manager Paul Heckingbottom a huge win over Blackburn Rovers in the Lancashire derby.

Preston's first three points of the season ended their miserable losing start to the Championship season and ease the pressure on Heckingbottom.

Lang had failed to score in his previous 11 appearances for North End since his February move from Portsmouth and he seized his chance after Heckingbottom started him ahead of Jusef Erabi.

Blackburn will feel they deserved a draw and Jayden Fevrier hit the bar after Stanley Mills scored an own goal to reduce the arrears.

Lang struck after nine minutes when he showed predatory instincts to direct home Delano Burgzorg's shot at the back post.

The forward then had to change his shirt because of a nose bleed, but it did not deter him and he headed home Jordan Thompson's whipped-in free-kick from close range on 27 minutes to double Preston's advantage.

Blackburn had twice as much possession and had their moments. Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen saved from Todd Cantwell while Ryoya Morishita should have scored when Andri Gudjohnsen pulled the ball back to him, but his shot deflected off Leo Leroy before Ryan Alebiosu drove narrowly over.

Preston, who handed debuts to Johnny Kenny and Liam Gibbs from the bench, were in control, only for Blackburn to claw their way back into the derby on 51 minutes when Alebiosu's dangerous cross was deflected off Harry Clarke and the unfortunate Mills turned it into his own net.

Burgzorg tried to re-establish Preston's two-goal lead, only for Blackburn goalkeeper Aynsley Pears to save his shot at full stretch with his right hand.

Rovers, who brought on 17-year-old Harvey Higgins for his debut, pushed for an equaliser and substitute Fevrier went agonisingly close just two minutes after coming on when his curling shot came off the crossbar.

Iversen saw Preston home and he made crucial saves to deny Cantwell and Gudjohnsen and earn the Lilywhites this significant victory.

After jeers from the home fans greeted the final whistle in Tuesday's defeat by Bristol City at Deepdale, this was a huge win for Preston and Heckingbottom.

They had made their worst start to a season in 70 years with four league defeats from four and this victory was a massive relief for them, particularly after their most expensive transfer window of £15m.

Heckingbottom feels he has all the pieces needed to build his jigsaw and Lang looks like he could play a leading role after the North End boss lost six strikers in the summer.

Blackburn had only one available senior centre-half in Sean McLoughlin and it showed against Preston and fox in the box Lang.

Midfielder Sam Morsy dropped back to partner McLoughlin on his 600th club appearance and his absence created a hole in the centre of the park, which the ageing Adam Forshaw could not fill.

Rovers still had more than enough chances to earn a point and Morishita squandered their best opportunity to score at 1-0.

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I thought today it's the best we've been without the ball, barring probably the second half against Huddersfield when we had 10 men, and it's a huge, huge part of the game.

"We got in front, two really good goals from Langie's point of view, where we wanted him, with deliveries into the box. The delivery from JT [Jordan Thompson] is good and Langie does attack the ball really well in the box. I think his two goals were an example of that.

"But for me, the best thing about today was that spirit and determination to see the game out, which is vital in this league."

Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"We lost two really soft goals, which was so unlike us. If you think we went to Lincoln just three days ago, and it felt like we faced 1,000 crosses and we headed them all out to become the first team in 30-odd games to stop them scoring a goal.

"I thought we'd be able to deal with what was coming today and yet the second goal in particular, is a really, really soft goal.

"So, yeah, we never really got to the level we needed to get to. Good luck to them, but for us, we have to find the level of consistency that's going to win football matches."