Emil Riis responded to his recall to the Preston starting line-up with his fourth goal of the season - and his second at Deepdale
The meeting of the Championship's two draw specialists ended as expected at Deepdale as Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion shared the spoils.
Albion looked on course for victory after Karlan Grant's well-worked early first-half goal - but Emil Riis excellently levelled 10 minutes into the second half.
That earned Preston's ninth draw in 18 games this season, one behind Albion's tally of 10, to send the 16,124 Deepdale crowd home unsurprised.
The least surprised maybe were the travelling Baggies fans who have now witnessed nine draws in an unbeaten 10-game run, broken only by the 2-1 away win at Hull three weeks ago.
That keeps Carlos Corberan's side seventh - but now 10 points behind leaders Sheffield United, having been top two months ago following an unbeaten six-game start to the season.
- Published29 November 2024
North End's third straight draw lifts them a place to 18th, 10 points behind the Baggies - and three points clear of trouble.
It took just 13 minutes for the hosts to be unlocked when Albion attacked down the left through Josh Maja and Tom Fellows - and Grant came in from the right to chip over home keeper David Cornell.
It was a bad way for Cornell to mark his first home start since August 2023, following Freddie Woodman's suspension after his late midweek red card at Stoke.
Preston might have been level before the break but for a goal-line clearance by on-loan Everton defender Mason Holgate to deny North End's on-loan Nottingham Forest frontman Josh Bowler.
But they got their due reward for an improved second-half display when Riis got on the end of Sam Greenwood's delivery to level with a powerful shot into the bottom corner - not a goal worthy of the 'boring' tag levelled at the club by disillusioned fans this week.
Karlan Grant's four goals for the Baggies this season have all come away from home
Who's next?
After playing their final Saturday fixture of 2024, Albion now face back-to-back home games.
They have an eight-day gap before hosting current Championship leaders Sheffield United next Sunday, followed by the visit three nights later of Frank Lampard’s Coventry City.
Preston, by contrast, now face two games on the road, at Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City.
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"You could maybe replay any one of the previous interviews since I've been here.
"In 90-95% of them I've felt we were the better team but just haven't got over the line.
"But I love the way we played and I've told the players it will turn soon enough.
"They cleared one off the line and we cleared one off the line for them."
West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM:
“They were less aggressive than we probably expected and we managed it well – but we didn’t create enough chances.
“But, in the second half, it was like a totally different game and they were much better than us in the first 15 to 20 minutes.
“We were better in the last 20 minutes and recovered our competitiveness but not enough to win.”
