There was nothing to separate Preston North End and Hull City as they played out a goalless draw at the MKM Stadium.
After a first half which saw the hosts enjoy the better of the chances, PNE had opportunities of their own in the second half to break the deadlock, but the likes of Troy Parrott and Brad Potts couldn’t quite find the elusive opener.
Ryan Lowe opted to make three changes from the midweek draw with Luton Town, as Ben Woodburn, Liam Delap and Ryan Ledson came in to start.
It wasn’t a first half blessed with goalmouth action, but PNE did get away with one somewhat in the 16th minute. A loose backpass from Jordan Storey was intercepted by Dimitrios Pelkas and his dink over Freddie Woodman was a matter of inches away from finding Oscar Estupiñán in the area, who would have been able to tap into an empty goal.
North End’s first attempt came five minutes later when Delap tried his luck from a tight angle inside the box, but he could only find the side netting with a powerful effort.
Woodman tipped wide to deny Estupiñán in the 40th minute, before coming up with a fantastic reflex save in the first minute of added time to keep out Greg Docherty, who had bulldozed his way through the area.
Two changes were made at the break for PNE, with Parrott and Bambo Diaby entering the fray, in place of Delap and Jordan Storey.
Just two minutes into the half, Woodman had to come up with a great double save, firstly to stick out a right boot to deny Alfie Jones, and then saving Pelkas’ follow-up effort.
Substitute Parrott had a huge opportunity to break the deadlock on 54 minutes, as Cannon ran the channel and produced a good ball into the box for his strike partner, but the Irishman fired a first-time strike just wide of goal.
Brad Potts then could have opened the scoring himself just a minute later as the ball kindly fell his way just outside the six-yard box, however his left-footed volley flew over the bar.
PNE certainly seemed to have the momentum from that point, but they couldn’t find a winning goal, as they were limited to long-range attempts from skipper Alan Browne, which were both sent wide.
Hull City enjoyed a late spell of pressure themselves, with a series of corners and free-kicks, but the North End defence stood strong to leave East Yorkshire with a point.
Hull City line-up: Ingram; Christie, Jones, McLoughlin, Greaves; Simons, Docherty, Tufan; Longman (Ebiowei, 65), Estupiñán (Tetteh, 76), Pelkas (Slater, 65). Subs not used: Darlow, Coyle, Elder, Woods.
PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey (Diaby, 45), Cunningham, Hughes (Lindsay, 36); Potts, Ledson, Browne, Woodburn (Johnson, 74), Fernández; Delap (Parrott, 45), Cannon. Subs not used: Cornell, Brady, Onomah.
Attendance: 17,776.
Referee: Mr S Allison.