DICKSON Etuhu rose to the occasion and kept North End within firing distance of the playoffs - at the expense of automatic promotion wannabes West Brom.

He towered above the Baggies' defence in the 56th minute to head down Rob Edwards' left-footed corner past keeper Russell Hoult.

Up until that point, it had appeared that this would be one of those games where the ball just wouldn't go into the back of the net.

Both sides missed penalties - bizarrely in exactly the same fashion and just moments apart.

First, Scott Dobie took a spot kick on 47 minutes after Sean Gregan fouled Adam Chambers.

But Dobie, who chose West Brom over Preston, saw his penalty ricochet off

the underside of the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Larus Sigurdsson toppled Richard Cresswell in the area.

With Graham Alexander missing from action, Cresswell took the kick himself, only to watch it bound out in identical fashion.

It was a vastly improved performance on last Friday at Norwich, even though several key players were missing.

Lee Cartwright was absent, allowing Thordor Gudjonsson to start. Graham Alexander also missed out, with Adam Eaton drafted in to cover for him.

And David Lucas was given the chance to stake his claim as the first choice keeper following Tepi Moilanen's howler last week at Norwich.

As early as the ninth minute, North End threatened to score. Gregan crossed to Gudjonsson who shot just wide. Jon Macken followed up in the 18th with a good effort.

And just before Preston scored, Eaton had Hoult at full stretch with a 30 yard effort.

West Brom were never out of it though - as they demonstrated near to the end, despite losing Jason Roberts at half-time.

Dobie picked up a cross in the 18-yard area, beat the North End defence before twisting to fire inches wide of the far post.

PNE... 1 West Brom... 0

Dickson Etuhu, 56