Preston passed up the chance to underline their play-off place as they failed to break down Plymouth, drawing for the 10th time in the Coca-Cola Championship at Deepdale this season.

North End, without David Nugent and Danny Dichio for several weeks because of injury, have not scored in four of their last five games and were once again unable to convert long spells of midfield possession and dominance into chances.

As the climax of the season approaches, North End are losing momentum with a run of one win in eight matches - and they were simply unable to open up a Plymouth side playing with a lone striker.

Add Preston's problems in front of goal to that of Tony Pulis' side, who have scored once in six games, and this was never likely to see a glut of goals.

But Plymouth briefly looked dangerous from the first whistle, the North End defence struggling to deal with a number of long throws and referee Nigel Miller waving away appeals that the hosts' Youl Mawene had handled in the area.

But North End carved the visitors apart in the eighth minute with a slick cross-field move which eventually saw a Lewis Neal effort cleared off the line by defender Mat Doumbe.

There was then a long spell where the ball was bogged down in midfield - but in the 25th minute a fine piece of interplay between Chris Sedgwick, Graham Alexander and Brian O'Neil sent Brett Ormerod into the area only for his low effort to be blocked wide by Argyle goalkeeper Romain Larrieu.

In the 34th minute a slip from Matt Hill put Vincent Pericard in the clear. But Leon Clarke, making his debut after joining on loan from Wolves, had his shot charged down by Alexander.

After a neat turn from a flick from on-loan Bristol City man Marcus Stewart, Sedgwick's strike forced another save from Larrieu.

After the break, Paul Wotton had a decent long-range free-kick deflected just off target by the wall.

After a swift North End breakaway, O'Neil's header flew just wide from Sedgwick's deep cross - while at the other end, Tony Capaldi lashed a free-kick well off target.

Stewart had struggled to make a real impression and made way for Patrick Agyemang just after the hour - and the tempo immediately lifted.

A driven pass from Hill ran all the way through to Ormerod, but Sedgwick could not get on the end of his low cross to the far post.

A Paul McKenna free-kick was then glanced wide by Ormerod.

Preston were now camped in Plymouth territory, with even Mawene getting forward to deliver a dangerous cross and Sedgwick having a follow-up blocked.

A horrible clash of heads between Hill and Paul Connolly saw both players replaced with just over 10 minutes left.

As the pressure continued, a McKenna through ball found Agyemang - and he raced past Doumbe to find Tyrone Mears on the edge of the box. But the substitute could hit only the side-netting.

Then a cross from substitute Simon Whaley was stabbed goalwards by Ormerod only for Anthony Barness to hack off the line.

Despite there being seven minutes added on for the earlier delay, the hosts had to settle for a point.

Teams:

Preston Nash, Alexander, Davis, Mawene, Hill (Mears 78),Sedgwick, McKenna, O'Neil, Lewis Neal (Whaley 68),Stewart (Agyemang 64), Ormerod.

Subs Not Used: Hibbert, Jarrett.

Booked: Hill, Davis.

Plymouth Larrieu, Connolly (Barness 78), Aljofree, Doumbe,Hodges, Norris, Wotton, Nalis, Capaldi, Clarke (Chadwick 84),Pericard (Evans 90).

Subs Not Used: McCormick, Buzsaky.

Booked: Capaldi.

Att: 13,925

Ref: N Miller (Durham).