Preston North End vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance15,816.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Preston and Hull City at Deepdale as North End played out another goalless draw for the second weekend in a row on Saturday.
Saturday 6 August 2022 18:17, UK
Preston's frustrating start to the season continued as they failed to score for the second successive game as Ryan Lowe's side were held to a drab 0-0 draw by Hull at Deepdale.
The Lilywhites were unable to find a goal away at local rivals Wigan on the opening weekend and Lowe's side again struggled to produce a killer touch on their first home outing of the campaign.
A battling draw preserves Hull's unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship season with Shota Arveladze enjoying a strong opening to his first full campaign in English football.
Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott was the bright spark for Preston in a stop-start opening in Lancashire, as the Republic of Ireland international's cushioned pass was almost steered home by strike partner Emil Riis Jakobsen, before his dangerous whipped cross was superbly cleared away by the Hull back line.
Despite struggling to make any real inroads in the opening half hour, the visitors did begin to edge themselves into the contest before the break, with Jacob Greaves heading Benjamin Tetteh's cross narrowly wide, and full-back Lewie Coyle striding forward to fire a long-range effort over the bar.
However, the closest opportunity for a first-half breakthrough came through former Burnley star Robbie Brady, as his clever chip inside the area dropped just over Matt Ingram's bar.
That positivity allowed the hosts to take up the initiative once again after the restart, with Parrott forcing an instant reflex stop from Ingram on 48 minutes, before the Tigers stopper produced a brilliant diving save to deny the Irishman from the edge of the box just after.
Driven on by Parrott's inventiveness, and Daniel Johnson's energy in midfield, Preston continued to carry all of the attacking threat as the second half wore on, with Jakobsen stooping to head Brad Potts' cross wide of the upright.
The home side's dominance continued on from there as they carved out more chances, but again Ingram was on hand to rescue Hull with a brave sprawling block to thwart Alan Browne, before Jakobsen blazed another poor effort way off target.
Preston stayed on the front foot in the closing stages, as Hull dug in deep for a draw, with Parrott again at the heart of it for the home side, but his dink over Ingram was desperately hacked away off the line by the retreating Greaves on 85 minutes.
Preston's Ryan Lowe: "I am happy with how we were performed defensively. We've been very solid and sound, and limited good players to very few chances. The chances we created ourselves show lots of positives, there are no
negatives in that sense, and I'm a positive manager and I get that across to the players. We've gone two games without conceding a goal, that's a big plus, but I'm frustrated with that lack of quality to open the scoring.
"The chances that we've missed are frustrating, but I'm sure that once the lads get one, more of those chances will go in for us. It was brilliant to be back here in front of our fans today. It's frustrating that we haven't got a goal, or win, for them to celebrate, but the goals are just around the corner for us."
Hull's Shota Arveladze: "Four points from our first two games of the season is definitely a big positive for us to take away from today. It is definitely a good thing for us. It is too early to talk about anything else within the season that is for
certain. But we are in a positive place and we just want to keep on getting better. The next game comes around very quickly for us now, we only have one or two nights to prepare. As soon as we have our next session, we need to focus on the next match, which is a cup game.
"We know that we need fresh legs in the squad, however, we have tough boys in this squad, but we need to keep on it. We have picked up a few injuries today, and that will need to be looked at, but I am pleased to get this result."
