Watford 0-0 Preston North End: Points shared in goalless draw
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There were only three attempts on target in the match at Vicarage Road
Watford and Preston played out a relatively drab goalless draw in the Championship.
Preston's Andrew Hughes missed a close-range effort just before the break with the best chance of a scrappy first half.
Despite dominating possession, Watford struggled to create any real openings, as Jack Whatmough and Will Keane went close for the visitors.
The point sees Preston drop a place to 10th in the Championship table, seven points off the play-off places, with six games remaining.
Watford stay 14th, nine points off the relegation places and and 16 points off the top six.
Whatmough saw a fifth-minute header from a Preston corner go wide, while Tom Dele-Bashiru, Yaser Asprilla and Jamal Lewis all had early half-chances for the Hornets.
It was not until the final moments of the opening period that either side had a chance of note, when Hughes managed to drag a first-time effort wide when he was six yards out, after Watford had failed to clear a corner.
Wes Hoedt's fierce 35-yard strike whistled narrowly past the Preston goal 10 minutes into the second half, while Whatmough put another header wide soon after.
North End went close again 10 minutes later but Keane's powerful volley went wide of the target after good work by Emil Riis.
Watford left-back Lewis, on loan from Premier League Newcastle, blasted an 85th-minute effort wide as the Hornets drew a third successive game.
Watford interim head coach Tom Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"It's not where I want us to be and it's not where I want us to get to in these sort of games.
"We have to try and find the balance of going for the win and then not risking a loss, and I think maybe we were a little bit conservative with that today.
"I thought we just lacked that little bit of killer edge in and around the box.
"I thought we improved the tempo, improved the quality in the second half and we were pushing and with just not having that final bit.
Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"We've got a valuable point which hopefully will help us.
"But I think we did enough to win it, we had some great chances, some good set plays in there, we just didn't have that clinical edge at the top end of the pitch today where we've had it in games.
"We were solid at the back, we had a back five at times which was important for us today against a good team, and we still had that goal threat, we just didn't manage to put it in the back of the net.
"At this stage of the season you need three points, but as I've always said, if you can't win it certainly don't lose it."