Preston moved to within five points of the Championship play-off zone as they recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norwich at Carrow Road.

A early effort from striker Milutin Osmajic proved enough to see off a below-par home side and the well-drilled visitors could easily have won by a bigger margin, with a number of chances going begging.

Norwich, who would have moved into the top six had they won, barely created a decent opportunity all night and could have few complaints about the result.

Preston took just five minutes to move ahead as Norwich’s attempts to build from the back were thwarted by an enthusiastic press.

The ball fell to Mads Frokjaer who slipped skilfully between two Norwich defenders before squaring for Osmajic to comfortably guide the ball past an exposed Angus Gunn.

Norwich, who had lost skipper Kenny McLean to illness in the build-up, threatened within a minute as in-form Josh Sargent bore down on goal but a well-timed block from Ryan Porteous kept his shot out.

After seeing Duane Holmes carried off on a stretcher with an injury to his left leg, the visitors went on to create a couple more good chances in the first half, with Ryan Ledson firing wide when well-placed and Osmajic fluffing his lines after being set up by a Kaine Kesler-Hayden cutback.

Norwich had most of the ball but Anis Ben Slimane’s shot, which was straight at keeper Freddie Woodman, was their only effort on target before the break.

The Canaries made a triple substitution on the hour mark, with Sargent among those going off, as they sought to find a way back into the match.

But it was Preston who almost stretched their lead midway through the half when Kesler-Hayden fired agonisingly wide of the far past after finding some space in a crowded box.

Shane Duffy headed just wide from a corner and a Borja Sainz strike was blocked as Norwich finally upped the tempo, although Preston substitute Liam Lindsay almost wrapped it up 10 minutes from time with a close-range header from a corner which fizzed inches wide.

Sainz saw another decent effort deflected just wide in the closing stages but there was to be no dramatic finish at Carrow Road.