Preston North End were held to a goalless draw against Coventry City at Deepdale, with neither side allowing many clinical chances despite plenty of attacking effort.
The half-time whistle was blown following a long-range attempt and volley from the visitors early on, with PNE also coming close with Ched Evans hitting a thunderous strike into the side netting.
In a closely-contested match, between two sides in similar league positions, the second half was similar to the first. Both man of the match Daniel Johnson and Liam Delap came narrowly close to an opener, while North End defended well at the other end to maintain their clean sheet.
There were two changes to the North End side since the weekend’s win against Wigan Athletic, as Jordan Storey replaced the injured Greg Cunningham and Evans returned from suspension.
It was an eventful and lively start to the game as the visitors had a couple of chances at PNE’s goal – including a 20-yard effort from Callum Doyle and a volley over the crossbar from Jamie Allen.
However, PNE responded with attacking intent and, in the 19th minute, Johnson took control of the ball after a corner from Alan Browne, before floating it over to Evans, who unleashed a powerful shot from close-range into the side netting.
Allen again tried to give his side the breakthrough, as he ran down the right flank to latch onto a through ball from Gustavo Hamer, but his time and space was met by a shot only into Freddie Woodman’s grasp.
Determined to enter the break with some more chances at goal, Álvaro Fernández nutmegged and danced his way through the Coventry midfield, however the visitors remained resilient and denied any opportunities to trouble Ben Wilson in net.
The second half started in much of the same way as the first – both sides battling end-to-end but with PNE having the better of the chances this time around. In the space of a couple minutes after the 50-minute mark, Brad Potts fired a volley over the bar and Browne flicked a header from inside the box at the ‘keeper.
Not stopping there, Potts then fought for control of the ball in Coventry’s midfield, rolled it to Johnson, who then curled a well-placed shot from outside the box to force Wilson into a diving, parried save in the 58th minute.
The biggest opportunity of the game then fell to substitute Liam Delap on the six-yard box as the ball ricocheted kindly in his direction, but the Manchester City loanee couldn’t quite direct his effort on target.
At the other end, Coventry squandered a big chance themselves with Jake Bidwell firing over from inside the area, meaning both sides took a point from an entertaining goalless draw.
PNE line-up: Woodman; Diaby, Lindsay, Storey; Potts, Ledson, Browne (Woodburn, 84), Johnson (Onomah, 90+2), Fernández; Evans (Delap, 74), Cannon (Parrott, 74). Subs not used: Cornell, Bauer, Slater.
Coventry City line-up: Wilson; McFadzean, Doyle (Rose, 63), McNally; Norton-Cuffy (Burroughs, 63), Hamer, Eccles, Bidwell; Allen (Wilson-Esbrand, 46), Godden (Walker, 63); Gyökeres. Subs not used: Moore, Dabo, Maguire.
Attendance: 13,891 (846 Coventry City fans)
Referee: Mr J Busby.