Preston North End 1-1 Stoke City: Lilywhites record fifth successive draw
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Nick Powell has now scored in four of his last five Stoke City appearances
Preston North End recorded a fifth-successive Championship draw as they held Stoke City at Deepdale.
Nick Powell gave the Potters the perfect start when he powerfully headed in Josh Tymon's seventh-minute cross.
But Ben Whiteman ensured the sides were level at the break as he curled a 20-yard free-kick into the top corner.
Both sides failed to take chances after the break as Josh Tymon impressed for Stoke, with North End goalkeeper Daniel Iversen making a number of good saves.
Preston - who are unbeaten in nine games in all competitions - remain in 15th place while the point sees Stoke move up to fourth in the table, with the teams immediately around them playing on Wednesday.
North End were indebted to on-loan Leicester goalkeeper Iversen as his saves kept the Lilywhites in the game in the first period.
He tipped over Tommy Smith's effort three minutes after he had seen Powell give Stoke the lead and the Dane then did well to stop Powell's close-range effort midway through the half.
Whiteman levelled superbly after Josh Earl had been fouled on the edge of the box as the sides went in level at the break.
Both sides created opportunities after the interval, but attempts on target were few and far between - Tymon forced a terrific close-range save from Iversen after 67 minutes as the Potters missed the chance to move up to third in the table.
Preston North End manager Frankie McAvoy told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I felt Stoke first half caused us lots of issues if I'm being brutally honest, I felt they were the dominant team and it took us a bit of time to get the press right against their 3-4-3.
"I was delighted with Ben's strike to make it 1-1, but Daniel made a fantastic save before that to keep us in the game.
"I felt we started well in the second half, but I would say they're probably the best team that we've played, the team that has caused us the most issues in the games that we've played in the league.
"Over the piece, this is probably one of the games where I felt we were delighted with the point to be honest."
Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Stoke:
"It's a point gained when you're away from home, but it does feel like two lost because I felt we were the dominant team for the majority of the game.
"For the first 35 minutes I thought we were brilliant. We should have been more than two ahead and then we concede off the free-kick, it's an excellent free-kick.
"But I thought second half our reaction was good because we controlled the game again, had chances, but just couldn't take the chances, and on the balance of play there was really only one team that was going to win it."