Preston North End and Wigan Athletic played out a goalless draw at the DW Stadium on the opening day of the Championship season.
Emil Riis and Troy Parrott came closest to breaking the deadlock for PNE in the first half, but ultimately neither side could find the breakthrough before North End then played the final ten minutes with a man disadvantage after Ched Evans saw red.
Ryan Lowe handed out three full debuts in the Championship opener, with Freddie Woodman, Robbie Brady and Parrott all in from the start.
PNE started brightly in the wet conditions, with the first real opportunity seeing Ben Whiteman fizz a low effort towards goal, and debutant Parrott stuck out a leg, but his touch was wide of goal.
At the other end, Woodman was called into action by defender Jack Whatmough’s shot, tipping it wide of goal, before he then also kept out Tom Naylor’s header.
Brady and Liam Lindsay then combined twice in the space of a few minutes as North End looked to break the deadlock, however the defender headed over the crossbar on both occasions.
Left wing back Brady was involved again as he played it over the top to Riis, who charged towards goal before firing the ball across the box, and Parrott was just inches away from meeting it at the far post.
The two strikers both had big chances in stoppage time, with Parrott firstly bearing down on goal, and his shot was saved by Ben Amos, who then produced another stop with his right leg to deny Riis’ follow-up effort. The resulting corner was won in the air by Andrew Hughes, and a flick goalwards from Riis saw the ball hit the bar and go over.
It was the home side who started brightest in the second period, with a flurry of crosses coming into the PNE penalty area, and Woodman was required to keep out former North End loanee Will Keane on 65 minutes.
Parrott then had a chance at the other end on 71 minutes in his last action of the game, being slid through into the area, but he fired across goal and wide.
The visitors were then reduced to ten men on 80 minutes as substitute Evans saw red for a challenge on Tilt, and North End managed the game from that point to make sure they went home with a point.
Wigan Athletic line-up: Amos; Darikwa, Whatmough (Kerr, 38), Tilt, Bennett (Pearce, 90); Lang, Power, Naylor, McClean; Magennis (Humphrys, 78), Keane. Subs not used: Jones, McGrath, Shinnie, Aasgaard.
PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts (Woodburn, 66), Whiteman, Browne, Johnson (Ledson, 85), Brady (Fernández, 72); Riis, Parrott (Evans, 72). Subs not used: Cornell, Bauer, McCann.
Attendance: 15,429 (4,729 PNE fans)
Referee: Mr R Madley.