Stoke extended their unbeaten run to five in the Sky Bet Championship with a 0-0 draw against Preston.
The highlight of the game came in the closing stages when North End keeper Freddie Woodman was sent off for deliberately handling the ball outside the box after a short back-pass.
Neither side could break one another down, with the game littered with corners throughout.
After a cagey opening 15 minutes, the first two chances of the game fell the way of home side Stoke.
Something we have come to expect on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke over the years is a flurry of set-pieces which cause havoc for the visiting defence, and this game was no different.
A corner from Jun-ho Bae was flapped at by the retreating Woodman, who got just about enough on the ball to prevent it from going over his head and into the bottom corner. The danger was not over there, however, as Wouter Burger’s rebound was prodded against a post and away from danger.
Two minutes later it was Burger again with a great chance from another corner. A different taker in the form of Million Manhoef found the head of the Dutch midfielder – and with Woodman in no man’s land again – he could not direct his effort goalwards.
The Lilywhites should have opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when a ball from the right by Sam Greenwood found Milutin Osmajic at the far post, but the Montenegrin striker’s tame attempt on goal was easily claimed by Viktor Johansson.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side came out more aggressive at the start of the second half and almost took the lead five minutes after the restart.
A training ground corner routine saw Greenwood spray a delightful ball to edge of the box for the waiting Ben Whiteman – his strike, however, was blocked inside the six-yard box by Tatsuki Seko.
Whiteman then had his sweeping right-footed attempt tipped round a post by Johansson, who smartly got down to his right.
The final and only flashpoint of the game came in the final seconds when a moment of madness from Woodman in the Preston goal saw him swivel on the ball and pick up a back-pass outside of his box which duly saw him receive his marching orders.
