Coventry, who are now safe courtesy of Derby's defeat to Birmingham, had their moments – Max Biamou with the pick of their chances. But it proved a frustrating afternoon as their run of three straight victories came to an end in disappointing fashion.

The two sides cancelled each other out in an uneventful first 20 minutes, with neither fashioning a chance.

But any concerns of the fixture becoming a typical end-of-season affair were soon dismissed.

Both sides upped the ante and the Sky Blues should have taken the lead after 21 minutes.

Gustavo Hamer was the architect as he hit a well-struck ball into the Preston box for Biamou, who could only turn it over the crossbar from close range.

The opportunity sparked the home side into life and Sam McCallum's deflected shot caused panic in the Preston box but Ben Whiteman managed to head over his own bar to avert the danger.

The visitors, who had beaten Birmingham 1-0 at St Andrew's in January, responded and Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson denied Whiteman before pulling off a fine diving stop to thwart Ryan Ledson.

Preston's best chance of the half came in the 37th minute as a long throw from Tom Barkhuizen was flicked on by Jordan Storey for Sean Maguire, who headed the ball wide at the far post.

The home side also went close just before the break as Matty James tried his luck from distance but saw his dipping strike go narrowly over.

The visitors had strong claims for a penalty after 53 minutes as Ched Evans went down after bursting into the box, but referee Andy Woolmer waved away their appeals.

However, Preston did get a penalty in the 67th minute as keeper Wilson misjudged the bounce on a ball into the box and pulled back Evans as he looked to take advantage.

Browne stepped up and made no mistake as he sent the Sky Blues keeper the wrong way with a coolly-taken spot-kick.

Evans flicked a header wide as the visitors looked to kill off the match, while at the other end, Dominic Hyam diverted an effort onto the roof of the Preston net from a tight angle.