Preston 1-1 Burton: Honours even in first meeting between the sides

Preston came from behind against Burton to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw in the first ever meeting between the two sides.

Callum Robinson drew Preston level just before half-time after Jackson Irvine had fired Burton in front.

It means Burton remain without an away win in the Championship, but their boss Nigel Clough has still never lost a game against Preston.

Burton had not scored an away goal for 406 minutes, but came close twice early on when Ben Turner thumped a header against the bar from from Matt Palmer's corner before Irvine's deflected shot was pushed over by Chris Maxwell after four minutes.

And they did grab their first goal in five away games after 23 minutes. Irvine picked up a loose ball from Palmer's corner and fired low under Maxwell from 10 yards.

Robinson threatened to pull Preston level 10 minutes later as he broke through the Burton defence and unleashed a shot from 20 yards which was deflected, but was clawed away by Jon McLaughlin.

Preston had another chance to equalise after 41 minutes as Ben Pearson played through Robinson, who was denied when one-on-one by McLaughlin.

However, Robinson did deliver the equaliser in first-half stoppage time, sliding in at the near post to poke home Greg Cunningham's cross from three yards.

Preston started the second half as they had finished the first and tested McLaughlin within the first minute as Alex Baptiste struck an effort from 18 yards which was pushed wide.

Robinson threatened again for the hosts, but headed wide from 12 yards.

Simon Grayson's side came close to the lead after 52 minutes when Tom Clarke rose highest at a corner, but his header from six yards landed on the roof of the net.

It had become one-way traffic as Burton dropped further and further back as they looked to cling on to a point, and another smart Preston move cut them open, with Robinson's low cross just evading the sliding Jordan Hugill.

They came close again after another good move as Pearson unleashed a thumping drive that was just wide.

And they threatened to snatch all three points late on as Aiden McGeady dribbled through the Burton defence and tried an effort from 20 yards, but the ball was deflected into the arms of McLaughlin as the visitors held on to the point.

Preston boss Simon Grayson:

"We said to the players before the game that you can't wait for something to happen, you have to make it happen. We started sloppily, they had early opportunities and got the goal. We were a long way short of our best.

"If we'd started the first half as we started the second I think we'd have knocked the stuffing out of them and won the game. But we haven't and you have to earn every point in this division."

Burton boss Nigel Clough:

"This result will do us good in terms of our spirit, but it also shows that we have what it takes to survive in this league. After we had dominated that match so much in the first half and had so many chances, we could have felt sorry for ourselves after half-time but we didn't.

"Our reaction to conceding that goal was terrific. We came out and showed real spirit."