REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U21 striker Tom Cannon continued his impressive run of form with a goal for Preston North End in their 3-1 win over local rivals Blackpool.

Cannon, who found the net for Jim Crawford’s Ireland side in last week’s friendly win over Iceland, has now scored three goals in his last four games for Preston.

The 20-year-old, who is on loan from Everton, scored his team’s third goal in the 51st minute on Saturday, with a neat right-footed effort into the far bottom corner. 

Preston are running away with it! 🏃‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/rSpJFE9fyg

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Meanwhile, Blackpool boss Mick McCarthy questioned if his side have the quality to stay in the Sky Bet Championship after the defeat.

The hosts were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to a fine finish from former Tangerines star Brad Potts and a clever free-kick from Ben Whiteman.

Cannon capped a quick counter-attack to wrap up the win, before Jerry Yates scored a late close-range consolation.

The result is a significant boost to Preston’s play-off ambitions, but defeat leaves Blackpool second from bottom in the table.

“I believe we’ve got the fight and determination to survive, but it’s whether we’ve got the quality,” said the former Ireland boss.

“We’ve not taken our chances, we’ve conceded another three goals today, and we’re not helping ourselves.

“We are under pressure we know that, and we’re trying our very best to stay in the league.

“We’ll be back in again on Monday, and back in the oven again.

“You’ve got to make sure the lads are ready to play at the level of the Championship and recognise that we’ve still got games coming thick and fast.

“We’ve got more proper scraps like this to come – that’s the way the Championship is.

“I’m bitterly disappointed for everyone, that’s for us and all the fans who turned up. They will have expected more.

“We started OK, but when we got the chances we didn’t take them.

“The mood is pretty lousy in there, as you’d expect.”