Preston displayed another positive performance in an entertaining goalless draw at Deepdale which saw North End denied twice by the woodwork.

The Lilywhites had a whole host of chances, with Ross Wallace almost scoring another spectacular free kick in the first half after just being denied by the crossbar.

Captain Callum Davidson came closest to opening the scoring in the second half after his shot rebounded off of the post but lady luck wasn't on Preston's side who succumbed to a draw despite another impressive performance.

Alan Irvine made two changes from the side that lost to Cardiff on Saturday with Neil Mellor and Chris Sedgwick coming in for Stephen Elliott and Paul Parry.

North End asked the first question of the match in the fifth minute when Sedgwick's cross from the right hand side struck the arms of Lee Hendrie just outside the penalty area. Michael Tonge swung in the resulting free kick but the ball was cleared away from the Derby defense.

This was the brightest spell of play in an evenly matched opening 15 minutes but the Lilywhites had a great chance to take the lead a few minutes later.

Preston carved open County's defense following a neat interchange of play by Wallace and Davidson down on the left hand side. The Preston Captain then delivered a searching ball into the area which was cleared to Richard Chaplow and his goalward shot was met by Parkin but he nodded it just over the crossbar.

This raised the noise levels in Deepdale and seemed to spur the home side on who came close to taking the lead again in the 23rd minute. Parkin was involved again as he headed the ball down to Sedgwick who stuck a leg out but his effort just dropped over the crossbar.

Sedgwick came close again soon moments after when Mellor flung the ball into the area but the winger was stretching and unable to get a telling touch on the ball.
North End continued to play free-flowing football and were again close to scoring in the 30th minute after Mellor released Wallace on the left hand side but his driven shot struck the side netting.

Despite the mounting pressure, it was to be another Wallace set-piece that almost broke the deadlock for Preston. Mellor was brought down by Dean Leacock in Wallace territory and the Scotsman stepped up to take the resulting free kick, which beat a standing Stephen Bywater but unfortunately hit the woodwork.

This was to be the closest any side would come to scoring in a half that was being dictated by North End but was just lacking an opening goal.

The second half started at a quick pace and North End's top goalscorer Mellor found himself one-on-one with Bywater but his shot was well saved by Derby's goalkeeper.

North End continued to pile on the pressure and two minutes after Mellor's previous chance, the striker found himself in an identical position but his shot stung the hands of Bywater. Again this was a great period of sustained pressure by Irvine's men who were just lacking the decisive touch.

The home side were now thumping on Derby's door came agonisingly close to scoring through Parkin in the 56th minute. Sedgwick again found some joy down on the right hand side and swung the ball into Parkin who was unable to climb high enough to get contact with the ball.

There was a worrying site in the 60th minute though when Billy Jones seemed to twist his ankle as he tried to clear the ball on the right hand side. As a result, Jones was unable to carry on and was replaced at right back by Eddie Nolan.

Sedgwick, who was constantly tormenting the Derby defense, was again probing down the right hand side and drilled the ball into a busy penalty area but nobody was able to turn the ball in.

The game was becoming open and despite all of his side's hard work, Irvine's men were caught on the break in the 73rd minute when a sweeping move ended with DJ Campbell heading the ball against Andy Lonergan's crossbar.

Campbell's header was a rare chance for County who were hanging on by a thread at Deepdale. Irvine tried to influence the game in the 80th minute by bringing Chris Brown and Paul Parry on for Parkin and Tonge in a bid to turn this continued pressure into a goal.

However, soon after the chances were made, Wallace split the Rams defense with a superbly weighted ball which was met by the overlapping Davidson in the penalty area, but his shot crashed off of the post.

The chances kept on coming though and in the 85th minute, Mellor's header looped over Bywater but onto the roof of the net. The game was end-to-end at this stage and again Campbell found himself in front of goal but his shot was superbly blocked by Liam Chilvers.

A new pair of legs but the same rotten luck in front of goal for North End as Chris Brown was played through in the last minute of normal time but his shot was fired at Bywater.

This was the last chance for Preston who ended up drawing the game in an evening that saw North End hit the crossbar, hit the post and bombard County's goal with an array chances.