Sunderland drew a blank against clean sheet specialists Preston as the Black Cats had to settle for a point at the Stadium of Light. Tony Mowbray's men were facing a Preston side with the tightest defence in the Championship, having conceded only four goals so far, and also the division's lowest scorers, with just three goals to their name, and who have now notched six goalless draws in 11 games this term.
And with Sunderland's two centre-forwards Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms still sidelined through injury, it meant they struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities with visiting keeper Freddie Woodman only called upon to deal with efforts from Elliot Embleton and Patrick Roberts either side of half-time. At the other end, Preston also looked shot-shy although Sunderland needed Aji Alese to clear off the line from Ben Whiteman in the first half and Lynden Gooch to do the same from Jordan Storey in the second.
The draw meant Sunderland slipped one place to seventh in the table. Mowbray named an unchanged starting XI, sticking with the same side that began the draw at Watford heading into the international break.
