Cardiff City's frustrations in front of goal continued as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Preston North End at a sunny Cardiff City Stadium.
By Glen Williams
Despite dominating for much of the game, Cardiff couldn't break down a resolute Preston defence, with Joe Ralls coming closest after curling a drive off the post shortly after half-time.
Cedric Kipre hit the woodwork himself late on, albeit at the wrong end as Preston very nearly snatched an ill-deserved win, while debutant Niels Nkounkou nearly marked his arrival in the capital with a sensational last-gasp winner.
Nkounkou's arrival on a season-long loan was confirmed earlier in the morning, with the left-back taking his place among the substitutes as Steve Morison opted to hand Callum O'Dowda a start on the left-side of the back four due to the concussion suffered by youngster Joel Bagan in the 2-0 defeat to Bristol City on Sunday.
Rubin Colwill, one of the few positives from that day, was handed his first start of the season on the back of a week where Morison once again insisted he would not be pressured into throwing the talented youngster into the spotlight.
Colwill was one of three changes, with captain Joe Ralls and Jaden Philogene also returning to the starting line-up, and was admittedly often at the heart of all that was good about Cardiff during an otherwise frustrating afternoon that will bring City's search for a new striker into sharper focus.
Preston's last two visits to the capital resulted in two painfully dull clashes low on quality. Indeed, Morison himself admitted the 0-0 draw here back in March was 'boring'. But he would have been pretty pleased with how his side started this contest.
Only three members of that side started on this occasion, including Ryan Wintle, who popped up with the first sight at goal.
The midfielder, formerly of Preston's bitter rivals Blackpool, was afforded the time to tee himself up on the edge of the box after Ralls's freekick was initially cleared, before crashing a half-volley just wide of Freddie Woodman's right-hand post.
Max Watters may well have tested the former Swansea City keeper just a couple of moments later were it not for Liam Lindsay's sliding intervention, with Mahlon Romeo blazing an effort into orbit from the resulting corner during a lively opening ten minutes for the Bluebirds.
Indeed, the opportunities kept coming as the first half wore on. Watters perhaps should have done better with his finish after doing brilliantly to open up space for himself after riding two challenges on the edge of the box.
Preston came into this game looking to become the first team to start a season with six clean sheets since Chelsea in 2005, and proved a tough nut to crack again for a Cardiff side that has now netted just once in their last five in all competitions.
Indeed, City were restricted to a number of efforts from distance, with Jaden Philogene, Ralls, O'Dowda and Romaine Sawyers all having a crack.
Scoring goals has been a huge problem for Preston too, and they finished the first half without a single shot on goal to Cardiff's 13, which told it's own story about how things were panning out.
Cardiff stepped up their efforts after the break, with Nkounkou handed his debut, and had two shouts for a penalty turned down.
Colwill was convinced his effort just after the interval had hit a Preston hand before going behind, while Perry Ng was just as adamant he'd been hauled down during one of the several resulting corners.
Skipper Ralls came agonisingly close to making those calls immaterial, but saw his curling effort denied by the post.
Ralls was replaced as part of a double substitution from Morison, which included the introduction of Mark Harris, who popped up to net the extra-time winner here against the Lilywhite in the FA Cup last season.
But it was Colwill, who despite an imperfect performance, looked the most likely to make something happen, fizzing a cross that was turned behind, before then landing an effort onto the roof of the net after a quick routine with Wintle from the resulting corner.
As the clock ticked over into the final ten minutes, the fans inside the Cardiff City Stadium must have felt they were watching a training match, with Preston continuing to offer the lack of attacking threat one would expect from a side with just one league goal to their name.
Perhaps Kipre felt sorry for them, because he so very nearly handed them a gift late on, heading a Brad Potts cross onto his own post, with the rebound then coming off Ryan Allsop before being smothered.
A Preston win would have been an utter gut-punch given all of Cardiff's efforts, but there was a growing feeling that there was at least one more chance left in this affair.
And so it proved, as Nkounkou slalomed his way into the box before lashing a fierce drive over the bar in the last kick of the game.
A performance full of positives, but Cardiff should have won this game, with only two of their 21 shots on goal finding the target.
It's a state of affairs that will surely be seen as a priority as we head into the final week of the transfer window.
Cardiff City: Allsop; Romeo, Ng, Kipre, O'Dowda (Nkounkou 45); Wintle, Ralls (c) (Rinomhota 69), Sawyers (Whyte 90+1); Philogene (Harris 69), Watters, Colwill (Ojo 88)
Subs: Alnwick, Simpson
Preston: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Cunningham; Whiteman; Potts, Brady, Ledson (McCann 62), Browne (Woodburn 62); Johnson (Jakobsen 36), Parrott (Evans 78)
Subs: Cornell, Bauer, Slater
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