Preston manager Ryan Lowe lamented another missed opportunity for his side as they failed to close the gap to the Championship play-off places after a 0-0 stalemate at Cardiff.

A 15th draw of the season left Preston 13th in the table, still six points behind sixth-placed Luton having played two games more than the Hatters.

Daniel Johnson came closest to winning it for the visitors but he was denied by Cardiff goalkeeper Alex Smithies 16 minutes from time.

“It’s a good point but I think we were well worthy of three points,” said Lowe. “We had some good opportunities.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t have that cutting edge in the final third, that little bit of quality.

“You look at the points we could have had, and we’d be in a different position,” he added. “It’s a nightmare, when you look at it like that. You think to yourself that it could be better.

“But it’s a relentless league with some good teams and you’ve got to earn the right to take points and it’s not for the lack of trying.

“We are only six points off and the league can throw up anything. There’s no pressure on my lads. I just want to have a good end to the season and if the points take us closer then, who knows, we might get a bit excited.”

Cardiff substitute Uche Ikpeazu saw two efforts well saved by Daniel Iversen late on and Jordan Hugill had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up in stoppage time.

But Bluebirds boss Steve Morison admitted there was not too much to get excited by.

“It was a 0-0 game,” he said. “It had 0-0 written all over it from the first five minutes of the game. You’re just hoping you have a moment and win it. We nearly had that but it wasn’t to be.

“Their manager turned around to me at the end and we shook each other’s hand and we both said, ‘that was boring, wasn’t it!’

“The positive is we kept a clean sheet and it’s another point in the right direction. We would have lost that a few months back.

“We dust ourselves down now and go again on Monday. Hopefully, it’s a bit more exciting on Wednesday [against Stoke].”

The draw keeps Cardiff in 17th in the table and Morison was happy to move a point nearer to safety.

“Preston are on a good run of form, so it’s a positive that we kept a clean sheet, and they didn’t create anything either,” he added.

“We’ve come off back-to-back victories and it’s another point and another step towards where we want to be.”