Preston extended their unbeaten run to 22 games with a hard-fought point against 10-man Stoke, but they could have had all three but for Paul McKenna's late penalty miss in the Coca-Cola Championship clash at the Britannia Stadium.

There was little quality on display from either side in a game that degenerated into a midfield slog after the 55th-minute dismissal of Potters midfielder Darel Russell for violent conduct.

But Preston should have nicked it right at the death when Carl Hoefkens brought down Tyrone Mears in the area, only for keeper Steve Simonsen to save McKenna's spot-kick low down to his right.

The visitors started brighter in a cagey opening spell and were first to threaten after seven minutes when Graham Alexander's free-kick was blocked by Michael Duberry.

But that was to be the full-back's first and last meaningful contribution.

He was forced off with an injury to be replaced by Lewis Neal with barely half an hour played and in truth the Lilywhites struggled to reorganise following his departure.

In between times on-loan Blackburn striker Paul Gallagher showed his Premiership class in the Stoke attack as he unleashed an angled right-footed drive which was just off target after 15 minutes.

Then former Manchester United winger Luke Chadwick tried his luck from distance, only for Claude Davis to throw his body in the way.

Preston were having more of the ball but rarely threatened going forward and were too often wayward with their final ball into the box.

As the frustration grew, Youl Mawene was the first player in the referee's book after 29 minutes when he hacked down Peter Sweeney in midfield.

But a moment of magic from in-demand David Nugent almost earned Preston an undeserved lead nine minutes before the break as he cut inside from the left channel before blasting a low, left-footed effort just the wrong side of the post.

Stoke looked to have the edge, so it was somewhat surprising when boss Johan Boskamp opted to replace Gallagher with Hannes Sigurdsson at the break.

That did little to halt their charge, however, and eight minutes after the restart Mamady Sidibe wasted a glorious opportunity as he skewed his shot wide when the ball broke to him six yards out.

The game seemed to be there for the taking for the hosts, but a moment of madness from Russell a minute later gave Preston the foothold they had been searching for.

After a crunching challenge in midfield, Russell appeared to aim a kick at Brian O'Neil and the referee had little hesitation in brandishing the red card.

The incident must have had a lasting effect on O'Neil as two minutes later he was withdrawn through injury to be replaced by Chris Lucketti.

Predictably enough, the Potters packed the midfield in an effort to cope with the loss of Russell and to a degree it worked, although the result was not pretty to watch.

With the extra man, Preston piled forward and Mears spurned a great opportunity when he headed Sedgwick's cross wide.

He almost made amends for that miss with three minutes left when he burst into the area and was bundled over by Hoefkens, but Simonsen came to the rescue as he dived at full stretch to turn away McKenna's spot-kick.

Teams:

Stoke Simonsen, Buxton, Hoefkens, Duberry, Broomes, Chadwick,Russell, Henry, Sweeney (Mbuyi 63), Gallagher (Sigurdsson 45),Sidibe.

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Kopteff, Hill.

Sent Off: Russell (55).

Booked: Chadwick.

Preston Nash, Alexander (Lewis Neal 28), Davis, Mawene,Davidson, Sedgwick (Agyemang 82), McKenna,O'Neil (Lucketti 56), Mears, Nugent, Ormerod.

Subs Not Used: Whaley, Dichio.

Booked: Mawene, O'Neil, Nugent.

Att: 13,218

Ref: B Curson (Leicestershire).