Burnley missed the chance to go top of the Championship as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Preston in a scrappy, occasionally bad-tempered Lancashire derby.
The visitors gained a valuable point in their bid to pull away from the relegation zone, in their first outing since striker Milutin Osmajic was given an eight-match ban for biting.
Preston could feel hard done, as they saw a fourth-minute goal by Emil Riis wrongly disallowed for offside.
Riis darted on to Ben Whiteman’s clever low free-kick to sweep a shot into the far corner of the net, and television replays showed that the Danish striker had got the timing of his run right.
The visitors set out to frustrate their hosts – goalkeeper Freddie Woodman had already incurred one warning from referee Gavin Ward before collecting a booking late in the first half for time wasting – but created more of the chances in the opening 45 minutes.
Ali McCann lashed over from the edge of the penalty area after Brad Potts had headed back an Andrew Hughes cross, while Riis had an angled shot blocked by Maxime Esteve at the end of another Preston break.
Burnley did threaten to break through the Preston defence at times. Jaidon Anthony latched on to a lovely pass from left-back Lucas Pires in the 27th minute, and cut past Liam Lindsay before drilling a shot that Woodman did well to push out.
But Preston fashioned three more openings before half-time, as home goalkeeper James Trafford struggled to gather Robbie Brady’s left-foot volley from 20 yards out, McCann fired over when leaning back as Potts’ low ball in flicked off Riis, and Kaine Kesler-Hayden grazed the top of the bar with an angled volley as he stretched beyond the far post to reach Mads Frokjaer’s floated cross.
The second half lost its rhythm as Burnley continued to struggle for a breakthrough and Preston threatened only intermittently.
Burnley had a penalty appeal rejected when Anthony looked to have his shirt tugged by Robbie Brady as he arrived in the area to meet Luca Koleosho’s left-wing cross on the run.
That raised the temperature significantly, with McCann getting into a shoving match with Burnley captain Josh Brownhill after tripping him from behind. Both men were booked.
Then Lyle Foster was left in a heap on the floor after being shoved in the chest by Liam Lindsay, with players from both sides then crowding in on each other, and Burnley defender CJ Egan-Riley booked for his part in the fracas.
Foster had a chance to give Burnley victory with two minutes left when a half-cleared Koleosho cross dropped at his feet, but substitute Jack Whatmough made a fine block, and ensured Preston a point.
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