Preston North End stopped their losing run in the Championship with a 0-0 draw at Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.
Here are our four talking points from Carrow Road.
1. We do not lose
Ryan Lowe had spoken in the week about North End needing to do the fundamentals right again - as well as believing more - given that is what served them well at the start of the season. It was an ultra-defensive approach on Saturday, with a clean sheet the primary aim and Lowe banking on North End having at least one moment over the 90 minutes. A lot of supporters online did not like the approach or manager's comments post-match, which is understandable as this was a pretty tough watch. Preston did frustrate Norwich though, end their run of 14 games without a clean sheet and take a point back up the road. North End's boss evidently felt the need to strip it right back and start this three game week with at least something. Only the top three sides in the league have scored more goals than Norwich and Lowe seemingly wanted to eradicate the possibility of a Middlesbrough repeat, which would've been extremely damaging. It wasn't pretty at all, but PNE got what they ultimately came for.
2. Jack at the back
It was Whatmough's first start since Ipswich away in October, when he was forced off with a hamstring injury. The summer signing hasn't had much of a look in, but got the nod for Norwich and did well back there. North End were set up to defend and Whatmough is a no nonsense centre-half who competes aggressively. The number 26 did himself no harm whatsoever and Lowe was pleased with his performance. He said post-match: "Fantastic, yeah. He got injured and it's been a long time, but he had it at Wigan a couple of years ago and didn't rehab it properly. We feel we've got good physios who make sure they do it right. That's why he's been a bit longer, but he's always a big plus when he comes into the team."
3. That little bit of luck
For an hour there had been very, very few chances in a match bereft of spark and creativity. But, as legs tired and the game wore on, opportunities were always going to come along. PNE had a couple of their own - Brad Potts' strike over and Ben Whiteman's effort against the crossbar - but Norwich came the closest with their two chances. Liam Gibbs looked certain to score but slotted wide from close range, before Alan Browne somehow blocked Shane Duffy's bullet header late in the day. The look on Freddie Woodman and Jack Whatmough's faces in the picture above shows just how well PNE's captain did. Duffy couldn't have done much more but Browne was in the right place at the right time, with an absolutely crucial piece of defending. When you set up and play like North End did, you really cannot afford to lose the game. The number eight ensured that wasn't the case.
4. Set piece onus
North End went with Liam Millar at the top of a 5-3-2 formation, as Ched Evans sat slightly deeper and Alan Browne tried to support. It was a tough shift for the Canadian, who was consigned to chasing long balls and feeding off scraps. Preston didn't risk the ball in the middle of the park at all, instead turning the ball into the right and left channels for Millar, Evans, Browne and McCann to try and make something of. North End didn't show a great deal of attacking intent, but set pieces were an avenue Lowe wanted to try and make use of on the day. When asked for PNE's best chance of scoring on the day, he said: "Well it was a set piece wasn't it? I think two of them came, one for Whitey from a second phase and bang, he hits the bar. Good connection; probably too good, if he shanks it then it might go in. And then one has fallen to Jack's feet. He got the second one off and it was a good block from them. But we always felt we'd be able to counter, hence why Liam was in the team. We always felt that, one way or another, if we kept the back door shut then something would happen."