On-the-whistle report: Preston North End 1 Rotherham United 2

It was also their third successive away ivictory and their first triumph at Deepdale since 2002.

An own goal and a Ben Wiles strike lifted them from 22nd to 20th place and they have now lost only one of their last six league outings.

They rode their luck at times yet that won't bother Warne who made five changes in a bid to keep his squad for the packed fixture schedule to come.

Preston pulled a goal back in the 65th minute, making for a tense last half an hour, but the Millers held out as their survival momentum grows.

Rotherham needed only 15 seconds to take the lead.

The referee played a good advantage when Wes Harding was fouled and as the ball reached the penalty area Freddie Ladapo's shot took a huge deflection off Preston defender Joe Rafferty to loop over former Millers goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

The Millers lost key midfield man Jamie Lindsay to injury on 13 minutes and had to whether pressure as the home side did their best to hit back.

Jayson Molumby fired wide, Anthony Gordon's free-kick was off target and the Everton loanee bent a shot over the bar as the visitor held firm.

Keeper Viktor Johansson kept his team in front with flying save from Ched Evans' header and then produced a sharp reaction save to deny the same man, taking a blow for his trouble and requiring lengthy treatment.

As half-time approached, Ben Whiteman hit the post with a free-kick and Rotherham went in at the break fortunate to still be leading.

With matches coming thick and fast, Warne chose to rest nearly half of his side after their exertions in Wednesday's 3-0 win over Derby County.

Attacking duo Michael Smith and Matt Crooks dropped to the bench along with captain Richard Wood, Matt Olosunde and Ben Wiles.

Ladapo and George Hirst were paired up front, new boys Ryan Giles and Lewis Wing were given first starts and Angus MacDonald took the skipper's place in defence

Five minutes after the restart, Whiteman shot low and just wide as the Millers clung to their advantage.

But within five minutes Rotherham doubled their lead. Giles and Ladapo combined superbly to find Wing, the midfielder took his time to pick out Wiles and the substitute buried his shot at the far post.

The Wing-Wiles combination almost worked again as the former played in the latter for a dink over the keeper that drifted just the wrong side of the post.

Five minutes past the hour mark Preston were back in it as Evans finally got the better of Johansson.

Smith twice tested Iversen from tight angles and at the other end Rotherham soaked up everything North End could throw out them.

The Millers are on the march.

Goals: Rafferty og 1, Wiles 55 (Rotherham); Evans 65 (Preston).

Preston (4-2-3-1): Daniel Iversen; Joe Rafferty (Sean Maguire 81), Paul Huntington (Sepp van den Berg 71), Liam Lindsay, Andrew Hughes; Ryan Ledson (Daniel Johnson 66), Ben Whiteman; Tom Barkhuizen, Jayson Molumby (Scott Sinclair 66), Anthony Gordon (Brad Potts 66); Ched Evans. Subs not used: Connor Ripley, Paul Gallagher, Emil Riis, Greg Cunningham.

Rotherham (3-5-2): Viktor Johansson; Michael Ihiekwe, Angus MacDonald, Clark Robertson; Wes Harding, Dan Barlaser (Richard Wood 90+1), Jamie Lindsay (Ben Wiles 13), Lewis Wing, Ryan Giles (Matt Olosunde 66); Freddie Ladapo (Matt Crooks 66), George Hirst (Michael Smith 66). Subs not used: Josh Vickers, Trevor Clarke, Shaun MacDonald, Florian Jozefzoon.

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey).