Hartson misfires for Wimbledon

This season Wimbledon have resembled not so much a Crazy Gang but a side crazed by its inability to come to terms with new surroundings.

This season Wimbledon have resembled not so much a Crazy Gang but a side crazed by its inability to come to terms with new surroundings.

After four games in the First Division the Dons are still seeking their first victory, and against a neat, inventive Preston side that last season was two divisions below them, they were happy to come away from Deepdale with a point.

Mentally, Wimbledon, like Blackburn under Brian Kidd, do not seem to have adjusted well to relegation; their summer sales may have brought them some £15m but, spiritually, they sometimes look bankrupt. "Sides have definitely raised their game against us," said their manager, Terry Burton. "We're just out of the Premiership and teams are saying, 'let's show them what we're made of'."

They did at least manage a goal, their first in 405 minutes of football, scored by Mark Williams, who nodded in Neal Ardley's corner at the end of a first half in which John Hartson squandered a stream of clear chances, but they remain weighted down by some appalling statistics.

There have been no league wins in 14 games since March, when a Leicester team still dining out on Worthington Cup triumph was overcome at Selhurst Park, and no away victory in more than a year. They needed a spark from Hartson but the watching Mark Hughes, would have found little to impress him before Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Belarus.

Nine minutes from time, when the Wales manager was in the car park, the striker, who at £7.5m cost a little less than Deepdale's two new stands, crashed Marcus Gayle's header against the crossbar, but mostly he flattered to deceive. Five times in the opening 20 minutes Hartson was either through on goal or had a clear shooting opportunity. However, his efforts fell into two categories; they were either on target but lacked power or were struck firmly but wide.

Preston's greatest first-half threats came from corners, of which they won seven. The first saw Colin Murdock's header cleared off the goalline while Michael Appleton and Jon Macken, products of Manchester United's youth system, both went close from distance.

Thirty-five seconds after the restart, Appleton sent a fierce, low shot from 25 yards past Kelvin Davis to signal the beginning of Preston's dominance which, thanks in part to two offside flags, they were unable to convert into a winner.

Preston North End (4-4-2): Moilanen; Parkinson, Jackson (Anderson, 45), Murdock, Edwards; McKenna, Gregan, Appleton, Rankine; Macken, Basham. Substitutes not used: Lucas (gk), Cartwright, Eyres, Robinson.

Wimbledon (4-4-2): Davis; Anderson, Williams, Wilmott, Hawkins (Selley, 55); Francis, Thomas, Ardley, Euell; Gayle, Hartson (Robinson, 84). Substitutes not used: Heald (gk), Agyemang, Gier.

Referee: R Furnandiz (Doncaster).