Preston North End 0 Ipswich Town 0: IT was a case of missed chances costing Town at Deepdale as Ipswich could only manage a 0-0 draw at Preston North End.

Preston North End 0 Ipswich Town 0

IT was a case of missed chances costing Town at Deepdale as Ipswich could only manage a 0-0 draw at Preston North End.

Preston are likely to be one of the stronger sides in Division One and a draw does not reflect badly on Ipswich.

But Town had the chances to take all three points and a win would have helped to make up for the disappointment of that Bank Holiday defeat against Bradford.

Ipswich were much the brighter side in the opening minutes and Town had three good chances in the first half.

After only two minutes Marcus and Darren Bent combined well and set-up Jim Magilton in space just 16 yards out but the veteran Ipswich midfielder mishit his shot and the ball went wide.

On 22 minutes Marcus Bent latched onto a loose ball from Preston's Eric Skora and fired in a wicked shot which Teuvo Moilanen just managed to turn onto the bar and away.

Good play from Town set up Darren Bent for a clear shot on the half-hour mark but his effort was a tame one and Moilanen was able to gather comfortably in the Preston goal.

The second half was a much more open affair with Ricardo Fuller' pace and the accurate delivery of Graham Alexander's set pieces the main threat for Preston.

But it was Ipswich who almost took the lead in the 50th minute when Matt Holland met a Jamie Clapham free-kick and headed against the post.

Preston then enjoyed their best spell of the game putting Town's new defensive trio of Hermann Hreidarsson, Wayne Brown and Thomas Gaardsoe under pressure. Each stood firm throughout with Andy Marshall rarely called into emergency action.

Ambrose's pace gave him a super chance to continue his goalscoring form on 72 minutes but after bursting into the Preston box he hit Moilanen with his shot from just eight yards.

Seven minutes later another fine save from Moilanen prevented Ambrose again after Pablo Counago and Marcus Bent had combined well to put Ambrose through on goal.

With just three-minutes remaining a quick free-kick from Preston put Fuller into space but he dragged his shot wide on Marshall's goal.

But it was definitely Ipswich who were pushing for the points in the closing minutes of the game but a Magilton shot straight at Moilanen after Preston failed to clear a corner was the closest Town came to a late winner.

It would be unfair to say that Ipswich did not impress with their defence looking strong and a constant threat from the forwards.

But Ipswich need points to win promotion and Town fans will be hoping that it is not significant that their first game without scoring this season was also their first game without Marcus Stewart.