Preston North End 0 Huddersfield Town 0 match report: Frustration for PNE in Deepdale stalemate

Ryan Lowe's men did the lions' share of attacking on the night but was lacking that touch of quality in front of goal.,

Ched Evans, Cameron Archer and Emil Riis all had decent chances for the Lilywhites but the ball just didn't fall for them.

Substitute Riis appealed for a penalty in the closing stages but his appeal fell on deaf ears.

This was a fourth successive Deepdale draw for PNE - not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination but slightly frustrating given their recent winning form on the road.

North End have lost just once under Lowe in the Championship since he took the job in December, with a a record of four wins, five draws and a single loss.

The North End side had shown two changes to the one which started last Saturday's 1-0 win at Hull City.

Daniel Johnson and Evans came in for Ali McCann and Riis, with Lowe opting for rotation to keep the team fresh.

It was Evans who had PNE's first sight of goal in the ninth minute, Brad Potts' low driven cross finding him 12 yards out.

Evans got a shot away but Terriers Ollie Turton made a good block before it had travelled far from the Welshman's boot.

At the other end, Danny Ward tracked a throw-in into the box and hooked a volley over the bar.

Potts saw a shot blocked by a defender after Alan Browne had led a counter attack up the middle of the pitch before feeding a pass out to Cunningham.

His cross was miscued by Johnson and fell to Potts who saw his effort blocked on the edge of the box.

A spell of Huddersfield pressure didn't put the North End goal under much pressure, a 20-yard free-kick from Duane Holmes clearing the bar by some distance.

Just before the half-hour mark, Johnson slid a pass down the left hand side of the box which Archer chased, got past a defender before drilling a slow shot across the face of goal and beyond the far post.

PNE were dealt a blow when Cunningham went down off the ball with what appeared to be an injury to his left ankle.

He got some attention on the pitch from physio Matt Jackson before having to come off, Josh Earl replacing him.

A flowing Preston move two minutes before half-time got them a sight of goal.

Ben Whiteman won the ball in midfield, fed Johnson who in turn found Archer.

Johnson chased Archer's pass down the left side of the box and pulled back a cross which Evans put too close to Terriers goalkeeper Lee Nicholls who parried.

Archer went close 10 minutes into the second half after being found by Johnson's low ball from the left into the box,

He spun round his marker and got a low left-foot shot away which Nicholls dived to hold.

Soon after, it needed some fine defending from Alan Browne to cut out some danger in front of goal.

The skipper slid back and stretched out a leg to cut out a cross from the right on the edge of the six-yard box.

In the 63rd minute Archer displayed some goo footwork on the edge of the box to create room to shoot but lifted a right-foot effort over the bar.

Riis replaced Evans with 22 minutes remaining as Lowe looked for a different route to goal.

The Danish striker appealed loudly for a penalty in the 83rd minute when he was clipped cutting into the box but referee Robert Jones waved play on.

In PNE's next attack, Whiteman saw a shot from the edge of the box blocked and when the ball was returned into the middle, Archer diverted it wide of the far post.

Moments from the end Johnson - PNE's best player on the night - put over a low cross which Riis couldn't make a clean connection with and the keeper saved.

PNE: Iversen, Van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes, Whiteman, Potts, Browne Johnson, Cunningham (Earl 34), Archer (SInclair 90), Evans (Riis 68). Subs (not used): Ripley, Lindsay, Ledson, McCann.

Huddersfield: Nicholls, Turton, Pearson, Lees, Toffolo, Holmes (Koroma 86), O'Brien, Hogg, Thomas, Sinani (Eiting 66), Ward (Rhodes 83) Subs (not used): Blackman, Ruffels, Sarr, Russell..

Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside)

Attendance: 11,120 (1,147 away)