Doomed Charlton dented Preston's play-off hopes by holding North End to a goalless stalemate.
Goalless stalemate at The Valley
Doomed Charlton dented Preston's play-off hopes by holding Alan Irvine's side to a goalless stalemate at The Valley.
North End are now two points off six place following this encounter which neither team deserved to win.
Phil Parkinson's Addicks remain rooted to the foot of the table, some 14 points from safety with a maximum of just 21 left available.
No side has won more home games than Preston this season but their away form has been poor to threaten their play-off hopes.
Their midfield here had an unfamiliar look with the surprise omission of captain Paul McKenna so winger Chris Sedgwick filled in down the middle.
But the visitors missed the accurate distribution of their skipper as they too often wasted the ball.
Irvine's side created the first moment of danger when striker Stephen Elliott collected a throw and, after beating Kelly Youga, flashed a low ball across the face of goal which evaded his team-mates.
Tentative starts
Zheng Zhi then beat three men in midfield before playing a ball through which Tresor Kandol failed to read as both sides made tentative starts in a sombre atmosphere.
Elliott then teed up Ross Wallace for a long-range effort which was well blocked before Charlton captain Mark Hudson sent a header wide from a corner.
The hosts looked understandably short of confidence and every misplaced pass was met with jeers of derision from a crowd already contemplating trips to Leyton Orient and Walsall next season.
Teenage midfielder Jonjo Shelvey should make an impact in League One and came as close to anyone to breaking the deadlock when he headed onto the roof of the net.
Parkinson replaced winger Darren Ambrose at the break with Lloyd Sam coming on in his place and Zheng took less than a minute of the second half to force Andy Lonergan into his first save of the game with a skidding shot from the edge of the area.
Kandol then caused chaos with a powerful run as the hosts started superbly but a fine tackle by Youl Mawene halted the striker.
Wild strikes
Shelvey and Wallace exchanged wild strikes as the half continued at a frantic pace that was in stark contrast to the opening period.
Wallace then picked out Jon Parkin with a superb cross but the hefty forward planted a header three yards wide of the far post.
The opening goal was looking more likely than ever to appear and Therry Racon spurned the clearest opportunity with 20 minutes left.
Shelvey and Zheng created some space with a neat one-two and Racon burst into the area but shanked his shot high and wide.
Billy Jones came close to a last-minute own goal but his miscued header looped inches over.
