Brown, placed on gardening leave as Hull boss in March 2010 and eventually replaced by Nigel Pearson in the summer, was installed at Preston in January, but the Lilywhites' last league win was on December 11 and they remain in freefall at the foot of the npower Championship table.
Hull, who extended their own unbeaten league run to seven matches, took a deserved lead through Gerrard's towering header on the stroke of half-time and were troubled only in the closing stages by a Preston side bereft of confidence.
The Tigers have lost only one of their last 16 games since a 1-0 home defeat to Humber rivals Scunthorpe in November, but Brown's side have won only one of their last 15 league games and remain 10 points adrift of safety.
Source: PA
Source: PA