- Forest held to goalless draw against Preston
- Point in Lancashire leaves Reds sat ninth in table
Forest Head Coach Steve Cooper made two changes to the side which drew 2-2 with Stoke City last time out, with Ethan Horvath making his first appearance for The Reds since September as he replaced the suspended Brice Samba in goal.
Ryan Yates replaced Philip Zinckernagel who dropped to the bench, with James Garner occupying the latter’s more advanced midfield role.
The Reds, wearing their fluorescent yellow and orange kit, began the first half kicking towards the away end housing over 2,000 Forest supporters.
Steve Cooper’s side made a bright start, with a slide-rule pass releasing Djed Spence inside the area but his low cross was cleared. Jack Colback then received the ball on the edge of the box but drove his shot wide.
The Reds forced their first corner inside five minutes when patient build-up play resulted in Johnson’s cross being put behind. James Garner’s flag kick ran all the way through to Johnson who clipped a cross back into the box, but Keinan Davis was unable to apply any real conviction to his header.
Garner nearly capitalised on Patrick Bauer’s loose back pass to Daniel Iversen, but the North End goalkeeper managed to clear the danger.
In the tenth minute, The Reds had strong appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Geoff Eltringham when Davis showed great footwork to wriggle away from Sepp van den Berg inside the area before going down under the challenge of the Liverpool loanee.
The hosts had their first sight of goal when Ched Evans broke away from Jack Colback who felt that he had been fouled, before the striker curled a shot over the crossbar from 20 yards. Brad Potts then fizzed in a cross from the right which evaded three North End players and ran out for a throw-in.
In the 17th minute, Ryan Yates was on-hand to produce a good block to deny Andrew Hughes’ left-footed volley and put behind for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, Evans headed harmlessly off target.
Horvath’s first involvement saw him smother at the feet of the dangerous Cameron Archer who had slipped Joe Worrall and advanced towards goal. From the resulting corner, Bauer‘s header bounced down into the ground and Alan Browne flicked over the bar.
Midway through the first half, Brad Potts drove inside and onto his left foot before firing wide of the near post.
Shortly after, Horvath’s clearance found Garner who released Davis in the left channel. The Aston Villa loanee drove forward and pulled the ball back for Garner whose first time effort from near the penalty spot was straight at Iversen.
Another corner from the hosts resulted in Yates poking the ball over his own crossbar on the half-hour mark. Evans stabbed at an effort which trickled wide from the next set-piece and then glanced a header well wide from Potts’ cross.
Ten minutes before the break, Preston had their first shot on target. Evans flicked the ball into Johnson’s pass and the Jamaican drove forward before sliding in Browne who fired low into Horvath’s gloves.
As half-time approached, Evans’ low cross from the right was inadvertently flicked goalwards by Steve Cook but Horvath claimed with ease.
With one minute added on at the end of the half, Daniel Johnson was shown the game’s first yellow card for a challenge on Garner, before Eltringham blew the whistle to mark the end of a cagey opening 45 minutes.
HALF-TIME: Preston North End 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Steve Cook registered the first shot of the second half, stepping in and firing high and wide from all of 30 yards.
Eight minutes into the second half, Preston boss Ryan Lowe made his first change as Bauer made way for Josh Earl who came on to play as left wing-back, with Hughes moving across into the back three.
Shortly after, Worrall was played in down the right and checked back for Johnson who delivered a cross towards the far post. Garner attempted to head back across goal for Davis but the pass was snuffed out.
Down the other end, Johnson slipped in Archer who beat the offside trap and found space inside the area before lashing an effort goalwards which Horvath palmed away to his right.
Moments later, the hosts came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock as they created their best chance of the game. Potts poked the ball through to Archer who again beat the offside trap before placing a shot wide with only Horvath to beat.
After being given a let-off, Forest broke down the other end but Garner saw a shot blocked by Hughes from the edge of the area.
On the hour mark, Colback was the first Forest man booked for hacking down Evans as he advanced towards The Reds' area. From the resulting free-kick, Whiteman drove an effort straight at Horvath who held with ease.
Whiteman then came close again five minutes later, latching onto Archer's cute flick before side-footing an effort wide.
The Reds looked to ignite a counter after Whiteman then gave the ball away, but Spence was unable to get a definitive touch on the ball to break away from Hughes with space ahead of him.
Scott McKenna was booked in the 73rd minute for holding back Potts after giving away possession. Moments later, Browne found space inside the area, spun and fired in a low cross which was cleared well by Worrall. Lowe made his second change of the night when Ched Evans was replaced by Emil Riis in the 75th minute.
The Reds were given another let-off when Archer got to the byline and looped a cross which was inches wide of the far post via a deflection. The resulting corner culminated in a goal-kick from which Horvath looked to pick out Johnson one-on-one but van den Berg recovered well.
Earl was then shown a booking for pulling on Spence's shirt as the wing-back looked to advance forward.
In the 81st minute, Steve Cooper made his first change of the evening when Sam Surridge replaced Davis in attack.
Riis caused problems with an in-swinging cross which just evaded Archer at the far post as the game entered its latter stages. Potts forced Horvath into action with a curling effort after cutting inside.
Just before three minutes were added on at the end of the second half, The Reds had a golden opportunity to grab a late winner. Spence beat Earl down the right and made his way to the byline, pulling the ball across the face of goal with no takers.
Whiteman was then shown a yellow card for a foul in the first minute of stoppage time, before Horvath did well to punch away Browne's late corner.
The full-time whistle blew as The Reds claimed a point at Deepdale, extending their unbeaten run to four matches in all competitions.
FULL-TIME: Preston North End 0-0 Nottingham Forest
MATCH STATISTICS
Preston North End (3-4-1-2): Daniel Iversen; Sepp van den Berg, Patrick Bauer (Josh Earl 53’), Andrew Hughes; Brad Potts, Ben Whiteman, Alan Browne, Andrew Hughes; Daniel Johnson; Ched Evans (Emil Riis 75’), Cameron Archer
Substitutes not used: Joseph Rafferty, Connor Ripley, Ryan Ledson, Ali McCann, Scott Sinclair
Bookings: Johnson (45’), Earl (77’), Whiteman (90+1’)
Nottingham Forest (3-4-1-2): Ethan Horvath; Joe Worrall, Steve Cook, Scott McKenna; Djed Spence, Ryan Yates, Jack Colback, Max Lowe; James Garner; Brennan Johnson, Keinan Davis (Sam Surridge 81’)
Substitutes not used: Jordan Smith, Tobias Figueiredo, Philip Zinckernagel, Alex Mighten, Cafu, Joe Lolley
Bookings: Colback (60’), McKenna (73’)
Attendance: 12,598 including 2,308 Forest supporters
Shots: 15-6
Shots on target: 4-2
Corners: 11-3
Possession: 52%-48%