Championship roundup: Burnley held by Preston despite 11th clean sheet in a row

Burnley made it 11 clean sheets in a row in the Championship but were left frustrated as they drew 0-0 away at their local rivals Preston.

The promotion-chasing visitors missed a series of good chances, with Lyle Foster culpable for wasting two of the clearer openings. The Clarets have had 11 scoreless draws in the league this season, while Preston continue their remarkable run of having lost just once at Deepdale in the Championship since Paul Heckingbottom’s arrival in August.

Burnley had the first glimpse of goal after seven minutes but Jaidon Anthony dragged his shot wide upon entering the box after doing well to dispossess Jayden Meghoma. But Preston quickly rallied and caught their opponents cold just three minutes later as Mads Frøkjær-Jensen slipped Milutin Osmajic in behind and the Montenegrin would have scored had CJ Egan-Riley not recovered well to bravely block.

Just before the half-hour mark it was Egan-Riley’s defensive partner, Maxime Esteve, who was on last-ditch blocking duties, this time to deny Kaine Kesler-Hayden at the far post as the on-loan Aston Villa man tried to provide the finishing touch to a wonderful bit of team play.

The Clarets were struggling to get going but had two half-chances, with Zian Flemming lashing over from a tight angle after running on to James Trafford’s long punt before Connor Roberts’ cross-shot was awkwardly parried by Freddie Woodman. Foster, however, should have fired Burnley ahead in the final seconds of the half, after being teed up on a plate by Flemming, but the 24-year-old sent his effort from the centre of the box into orbit with the goal gaping.

Nonetheless, the South African attacker did not go into hiding and he clipped the outside of the post early in the second half after some excellent footwork to create space for himself just outside the six-yard box.

Brad Potts nearly curled Andrew Hughes’ pass into the far corner from a difficult angle after 64 minutes as the Lilywhites looked to reassert some threat on the match. With Scott Parker’s 71st-minute introduction of the Sporting Lisbon loanee Marcus Edwards Anthony moved over to the left and the on-loan Bournemouth man nearly made an instant impact on the opposite flank, shifting inside of Ryan Porteous before bending a shot just over the top.

It was Anthony again in the thick of the action shortly after, whipping in a delightful free-kick that Flemming misjudged from point-blank range when any touch of conviction would have surely opened the scoring.

Edwards sprung to life in the latter stages of the half and thought he had won a penalty after going down under a Lewis Gibson lunge but the referee Andrew Kitchen waved away the vocal appeals.

Second-half goals from Andre Dozzell and Mark O’Mahony earned Portsmouth a 2-0 victory at Oxford, inflicting a first home defeat on Gary Rowett since he took charge at the Kassam Stadium. This was only Pompey’s second away win of the season in the Championship and ended a sorry run of seven straight defeats on the road.

The game was suspended for 30 minutes in the first half because of a medical emergency in the crowd. The visitors then took control early in the second, Dozzell tapping home Rob Atkinson’s low cross from just two yards in the 47th minute after Oxford failed to clear a corner.

The hosts missed two good chances to equalise from close-range headers before Portsmouth sealed victory in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Terry Devlin’s header put O’Mahony through and he finished clinically, shooting low past Jamie Cumming.

Yousef Salech struck a 90th-minute Severnside derby equaliser to earn relegation-threatened Cardiff a 1-1 draw against playoff hopefuls Bristol City. Salech slid home his fellow substitute Cian Ashford’s cross with his third goal in seven games since joining from the Swedish club Sirius last month. The Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason Knight had put the Robins in front on the hour mark by heading home Yu Hirakawa’s free-kick for his third goal of the season.

This rivalry between two clubs representing cities around 40 miles apart has produced some memorable battles over the years. But this was a cagey contest of little note until both sides began to take more risks after the break.

• This story will be updated after the 3pm kick-offs