Preston North End 0 - 0 Coventry City

[dutchman]

Hoodoo continues as Sky Blues earn point at Deepdale



Coventry City earned a decent point but their Deepdale hoodoo continued as they failed to get their first ever league win at Preston.

It was a tale of missed chances and mistakes for both sides with Jamie Allen and Jake Bidwell enjoying the best opportunities for the visitors, while the home side passed up gilt-edged chances at the other end on a night devoid of quality.

City were the first to test the keeper when Callum Doyle unleashed a thunderous effort from outside the box to force Freddie Woodman into a good save in the tenth minute as the visitors started the better of the two sides.

Doyle then sent lovely diagonal into the box where Allen timed his run and hit an impressive first time volley that lifted the ball onto the roof of the net.

Coventry, however, had a let-off at the other end when they failed to deal with a corner, with the second ball being played out to the unmarked Ched Evans to the left of the goal, only for the striker to fire wide when he should have buried it past Ben Wilson.

But minutes later Allen was just as wasteful when Gus Hamer played him through on a counter attack, only for the midfielder to hit his shot straight at the keeper with all the goal to aim at.

It continued to be a scrappy affair after the break with both sides giving the ball away far too easily and North End forcing Wilson into his first save of the night when Alan Browne sent a stooping header his way in the 54th minute.

Mark Robins made a triple substitution just after the hour including Tyler Walker going on for Godden up front as there continued to be little to choose between the two sides.

Preston sub Liam Delap missed a sitter on 80 minutes when City failed to clear in the box and he screwed wide from five yards out. Coventry then passed up another opportunity to score when Jack Burroughs sent in a lovely cross from the right to Gyokeres who teed up Bidwell for a shot, only for the wing-back to put the ball high over the bar and sum up a drab night in Lancashire.

[dutchman]

Draw dents Preston and Coventry's play-off hopes



Coventry City's three-game winning run came to an end in a goalless draw at Preston North End that did little to strengthen either side's hopes of reaching the Championship play-offs.

The in-form visitors went closest when Freddie Woodman parried Callum Doyle's fierce long-range strike behind and Jamie Allen shot narrowly over.

Preston did not produce an effort on target in the first half as their unbeaten streak extended to four games with a draw that left the hosts seven points shy of the top six.

Brad Potts sent a volley high and wide and Ched Evans sliced his finish out of play after breaking free in front of goal as Preston failed to score for a third time in five matches.

On-loan Manchester City forward Liam Delap could not capitalise on an excellent opportunity when the 20-year-old shot wide after being introduced as a substitute.

Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson also palmed away Daniel Johnson's curling second-half attempt to prevent the midfielder from scoring his second goal in four days following North End's 2-1 win at home to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

The Sky Blues have now not won in 21 league visits to Deepdale since 1949, with North End unbeaten in 19 editions of the fixture.

Mark Robins' side, who visit Huddersfield Town on Saturday, moved a point above West Bromwich Albion into 10th, five points behind sixth-placed Luton Town.

North End remained 12th before their trip to Watford on the same day, two points above Bristol City and Reading.

Coventry boss Mark Robins told BBC CWR:

"It had 0-0 written all over it - there was no real control over the game. We had some decent patterns at times but nothing consistent. Ben [Wilson] had very little to do and their goalkeeper was worked.

"We fashioned a couple of half-chances. Jamie Allen went through in the first half and really should have scored, then we lost him at half-time to an injury and he'll be out for a while. The reality of it is, we just haven't got the depth of players. There's no chance.

"Fatigue is a big thing. It feels flat because you're looking at trying to kick on and it's very difficult, which has been the way throughout my tenure. It's a point gained, really - we've not got anything here for a long time."