Birmingham 0-0 Preston: Goalless at St Andrew's

Troy Deeney was denied by the crossbar as Birmingham were forced to settle for a point from a goalless draw at home to Preston.

Birmingham went close in the sixth minute when Dion Sanderson whipped in an inviting cross and Deeney's diving header rattled the bar.

But the Blues could not build on their bright start with Preston eventually claiming a fourth straight draw in the league.

A clean sheet, at least, was welcome for Lee Bowyer's team. They had conceded only three goals in their opening six games but then let in seven in their previous two defeats against Peterborough and Fulham.

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Preston went into the game unbeaten in their last five league games and they moved into the fourth round of Carabao Cup with a 4-1 midweek win over Cheltenham.

Blues 'keeper Matija Sarkic saw an early clearance charged down by Sean Maguire, with the ball looping just over the bar and then Josh Earl, making his 50th Preston appearance, saw an effort pushed wide.

It was a frantic start and, after Deeney's effort, Blues went close again on 12 minutes as Tahith Chong forced Daniel Iversen into a save.

After an initial glut of chances, clear openings became less frequent although Sepp van den Berg saw a low shot comfortably taken by Sarkic on 21 minutes while the Blues 'keeper had to be alert to deny Emil Riis Jakobsen.

Harlee Dean blazed over at the other end after meeting a free-kick at the far post but the sides went into the break all square.

Preston received a huge let off just four minutes into the second half as Ben Whiteman cleared off the line as Jeremie Bela's low cross struck Andrew Hughes. From the follow up, Iversen did well to parry away Maxime Colin's goal-bound strike.

Bowyer made a double attacking change in a bid to find a way through the visiting defence, throwing on Lukas Jutkiewicz and Chuks Aneke for Deeney and Scott Hogan on 67 minutes.

Preston responded by bringing on Alistair McCann and Josh Murphy for Whiteman and Maguire.

But, if the substitutions were meant to inject some threat into the final stages, they failed to pay off with neither side able to find the all-important winner.

What the managers said...

Birmingham's Lee Bowyer: "Both keepers played well and made good saves and I'm pleased for Matija. He's improving. He's at a different club, with different lads in a different environment. There's a lot he's had to adjust to but he's doing that and it's good to see. It's good for us to get back to a clean sheet because you always have a chance of winning games.

"It could have been 2-2 at half time and even the fourth official said 'how is this 0-0?' But, in the end, it wasn't very pretty and it was two tough sides battling and fighting for everything. It was more of a battle than a football match. In the second half, there were less chances although I thought we edged it. But ultimately, it was always going to be a slip or setpiece to win the game and we didn't take the chance that arrived."

Preston's Frankie McAvoy: "Neither team did enough to win the game in my opinion. I felt first half, on chances, we had the better of them. There were a couple of good chances we could have stuck away and that was a bit frustrating. But, overall, we both lacked quality in final third. We were desperate to get that first goal because goals change games but the longer it goes 0-0, the mindset changes and you don't want to lose the game.

"I felt we could have had a penalty for a clip on Pat but the opinion of the officials was it was a tangle of legs. If you get a goal, the game can burst open. I was hoping we might get it but we didn't. Ultimately, we didn't create enough after the break but they didn't put us under much pressure and defensively we stood up and did well. I'm not too disappointed."

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