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through a crowded goalmouth but when the midfielder attempted to land the decisive blow with 18 minutes to go, Smithies’ instincts took over and he deflected the ball wide.

Cameron Archer and Alan Browne also went close for Preston.

The draw leaves Preston six points shy of the play-offs and manager Lowe admitted: “We had some chances, but if you can’t win then you make sure you don’t lose. We had the best chances to go and win the game and I’m disappointed we didn’t have the cutting edge and that bit of quality in the final third.”

Cardiff might even have snatched what would have been a third successive victory in injury time but when Jordan Hugill bundled the ball home, Uche Ikpeazu was called up for a shove seconds before.

“Initially, I thought it was a goal but having had the opportunity to see it again it was the right call,” said Morison. CARDIFF CITY: Smithies 6; Drameh 7, Ng 6, Flint 5, McGuinness 5, Doughty 5 (Bagan 81); Doyle 5 (Colwill 61, 5), Wintle 6, Ralls 6; Davies 6 (Ikpeazu 61, 7), Hugill 6.

Subs not used: Phillips, Vaulks, Harris, Denham.

PRESTON: Iversen 7; Hughes 6, Diaby 6, Lindsay 5 (McCann 57, 5), van den Berg 6; Potts 6, Browne 7 (Rafferty 90), Whiteman 6, Johnson 7; Riis Jakobsen 6 (Sinclair 85), Archer 7

Subs not used: Bauer, Evans, Maguire, Ripley.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Alan Browne. Busy and effective, but lacked enough support to make it tell.

REFEREE: James Linington 7.