Verdict - Preston North End must improve after blunt display against Burnley

The visitors took the lead after just 10 minutes as Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed home a Josh Brownhill corner but PNE responded in kind as Jordan Storey scored from a corner of their own just three minutes later.

That goal was long overdue, it was North End's first at home this season. It was hardly the most sophisticated of goals, Brad Potts got up to try and head at the initial cross by Robbie Brady and after a slip from Arijanet Muric, Storey was able to capitalise.

It was a bit scrappy and a bit of hard work but there was not going to be any other type of goal for North End this season, there is a lot of huffing and puffing.

It is a monkey off their back, however it came. It was enough to see North End home with a point, themselves undone from a set piece, they again looked pretty solid in open play.

Burnley have been attracting plenty of plaudits this season due to their style of play and though it is certainly one that is possession based, it didn't prove to be too much of a threat for the Lilywhites.

There was a lot of moving of the ball from side to side, a few nice turns but nothing that particularly and certainly not consistently threatened the North End backline.

Though praise for the defenders doing their bit and keeping PNE in a game could be taken from pretty much any game so far this Championship campaign.

Preston were again let down by their own creativity, or lack of.

Ryan Lowe was hoping that Robbie Brady, Daniel Johnson, Troy Parrott and Emil Riis could provide the spark for his side to win the game. They are all capable of producing but they did not deliver it on the night. Brady and Johnson did link up well for a spell after the goal but that quickly went by the wayside.

Their link up would see Brady playing the ball down the line for the Jamaican to run on to but once there, his options would be limited and North End would find themselves with two hugging the same touchline, or losing momentum as the man on the ball waited for a runner.

It seems easy to defend for the opposition at the moment. It is worth mentioning that North End have had plenty of chances this season and could easily have scored their first home goal before now, but something must change if North End are to win games consistently, they must find a way to score.

Alvaro Fernandez came off the bench and looked keen to be direct and get forwards, he seems to be brimming with confidence whilst others around him are fading away.

North End have created in the past but lacked quality, now it seems harder and harder to create with a lot of effort required to fashion a bit of an opening.

Their fixture list for the near future looks formidable too, so they must not only improve, but do it against some of the best that the Championship has to offer.