Portsmouth missed the chance to ease their Championship relegation concerns after they were beaten by Preston North End at Deepdale.

Stefan Thordarson scored an excellent winner three minutes from time after bringing down Robbie Brady's long ball and rounding Pompey keeper Nicolas Schmid to fire home from a tight angle.

Colby Bishop thought he'd rescued a point for the visitors when he volleyed home Josh Murphy's corner in the 83rd-minute, following Ryan Porteous' opener for the Lilywhites.

But Preston struck late to end their six-game winless run and move up to 14th, 10 points behind the play-off places with eight games remaining, while Portsmouth sit just four points above the relegation zone.

Pompey came the closest to an opener in a relatively uneventful first 45 minutes through Andre Dozzell's curling effort on the stroke of half-time, but the game burst into life in the second period.

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom made four changes at the break in an attempt to liven up his side, with Liam Lindsay, Jayden Meghoma, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Ryan Ledson all withdrawn for Ben Whiteman, Robbie Brady, Sam Greenwood and Andrew Hughes.

The shake-up worked and Emil Riis almost found the opener after 59 minutes but headed narrowly wide from substitute Greenwood's excellent cross.

Midway through the second half, Portsmouth came close to taking the lead themselves when Cohen Bramall drove forward and thundered a 30-yard drive off the underside of the crossbar with Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman well beaten.

With less than 15 minutes to go, the hosts broke the deadlock when Porteous bundled in at the far post from close range - his first goal for Preston since joining on loan from Watford in January - after Ched Evans had flicked on Andrew Hughes' headed cross.

Pompey rallied and Bishop levelled in the 83rd minute, losing his marker in the box and converting Murphy's corner from the left for his seventh league goal of the season.

Evans almost restored Preston's lead within a minute after he stabbed Brady's cross towards goal, but it was well saved by Schmid.

Thordarson then came up with a moment of magic in the 87th minute, taking a brilliant touch to bring Brady's lofted through ball under control before skipping past the onrushing Schmid and hammering home with little of the goal to aim at.

Greenwood was shown a second yellow card and sent off late on for a high arm on Bishop, but the damage was already done for Portsmouth, who ceded ground in the survival scrap to Oxford United, Cardiff City and Derby County who all won.

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"Their (Portsmouth's) organisation is good, they make it difficult, so I felt we were accepting that in the first half.

"We weren't, but I felt they were having too big an impact on how we wanted to play. We needed to change it and then we did.

"I enjoyed watching the second half, I enjoyed being part of it and we created enough chances to win, which is the pleasing thing.

"I'm really, really pleased with the win."

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent:

"I'm absolutely furious. I can't believe what we did after getting the equaliser. Unacceptable on so many levels.

"I think I've been far too nice, far too kind for this team for far too long. That was absolutely awful what we did after working so hard to get back in the game.

"If you look at the build-up to the goal, they should have scored before that. We keep getting the press wrong, leaving our man, doing some of the world's silliest things.

"I constantly, constantly, constantly go on about fouling early, giving ourselves a chance to get back in it, but no we decide we think we can do better, we think we can do something else and the ball ends up in the back of the net.

"Same old message and it's not good enough. Once again we shot ourselves in the foot. Good reaction to going behind, awful reaction to getting the equaliser."