Before the draw, seven of the past eight league meetings between Middlesbrough and Preston had been won by the home side
Mads Frokjaer-Jensen earned Preston a hard-earned 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough on a day in which emotional tributes were paid to former Teesside favourite Sol Bamba.
There was pre-match applause and memorial banners held aloft at the Riverside Stadium in remembrance of the Ivory Coast defender, who died earlier this month aged 39.
An absorbing first half followed, as Tommy Conway’s coolly-taken early opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Frokjaer-Jensen’s well-taken volley just before the break.
Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman made a series of second-half saves, including one to deny Delano Burgzorg in stoppage-time, to ensure a share of the points.
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The build-up to the game was dedicated to the late Bamba – a hugely popular figure that ex-Boro defender Cyrus Christie remembered as “one of the nicest and most humble guys to grace this game”. Bamba retired as a player in 2022 after a one-season stint with the Teesside club.
With Boro boasting the most persistent attack in the Championship, having taken a league-high 78 shots this season before the weekend, and Preston managing a competition-low 10 efforts in comparison, the match mostly followed a predictable script.
Boro were frustrated as appeals for a fifth-minute penalty were waved away by referee Tom Nield after Conway was brought down by Woodman, who minutes later denied Hayden Hackney at his near post.
Conway then kept his composure to break the deadlock, meeting an inviting ball from Luke Ayling before beating the onrushing Preston keeper.
Emmanuel Latte Lath and Matt Clarke threatened to double Boro’s lead as they continued to dominate, but Preston still managed to carve out chances with Brad Potts at the centre of their biggest first-half moments.
After sending a dangerous effort over the bar on the half-hour mark, Potts set Frokjaer-Jensen up for his 43rd-minute equaliser.
Latte Lath had the ball in the back of the net for Boro after the break, but his effort was waved away for offside.
Josh Bowler pulled an effort wide for a dogged Preston as they tried to snatch all three points, while Woodman was instrumental at the other end as he saved well from Neto Borges and Clarke before keeping out Burgzorg as Boro pressed for a winner.
Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom:
“I'm pleased with a point. Boro shaded it in terms of efforts on goal but I was frustrated in the first half because we had good moments in possession but lacked penetrations. Boro’s best moments came from our mistakes.
“It was a really poor goal for us to lose. The way we fought back, and defended second half, we are pleased with.
“The response from us to score was good and I was happy to go in 1-1 after the first-half performance.
“The second half, when Boro pressed, around our box, I think our defenders, midfielders and Freddie Woodman I’d include in that, we defended well.
“We were still being brave and aggressive, even though we knew we would leave space. That’s the way we want to play. I wouldn’t have been happy to sit back and defend for the point."
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick:
“I’m frustrated, we should have won the game. We were in good positions to win the game, we created enough to score more.
“We didn’t give a lot away, there were a lot of good things that I think we will benefit from over time. But we want to kill teams off when we get them, push when we are 1-0 up.
“Preston got the goal and it was a different game because they had something to hold on to.
“It’s still early. There is a settling in period and I will take the positives. If we keep doing the right things we will be fine.
“Every game we have played we have been the more dominant team in terms of chances created. We try to build the performance and put blocks in place to enable us to win.”
