THIS was not the way Aitor Karanka wanted the promotion favourites to start the new Championship season, with Middlesbrough struggling to breakdown the newcomers fresh out of League One.

Karanka was keen to put down a marker to justify the extra pressure his squad will be carrying with them over the next eight months.

He is happy for Boro to be regarded as the title contenders, and still is, so to return to Teesside having failed to find the net of Preston North End was not the Sunday afternoon at Deepdale he wanted.

This was the first day of the new campaign and Middlesbrough, less than three months after losing a play-off final at Wembley to Norwich, did not lose to a side full of adrenaline and hope under Simon Grayson, who also had Preston well organised and capable of winning.

So in that sense there should be no over reaction to a goalless draw which could have quite easily ended in defeat as much as it could have been a win. Without a doubt, though, Boro turned in a performance very similar to last season.

And while a fourth place finish is not a bad place to end up in May, Boro need to find the extra edge in the final third if they want to finish top of the pile.

Even with Stewart Downing pulling the strings behind the lone striker Kike, Middlesbrough only had two clear cut efforts on goal; one in each half which saw Grant Leadbitter miss the target and a header from Kike denied.

Other than that it was a case of plenty of huff and puff without ever looking like blowing the Preston goal down, and the late introduction of Cristhian Stuani for his first piece of action did not alter that.

It is easy to suggest that Boro need another goalscorer, but Karanka needs to find a way for his strikers to get more chances with or without £14m-rated Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes.

Preston, who showed how to win at Wembley in a play-off final by defeating Swindon in the League One equivalent in May, clearly had the confidence still flowing and caused problems throughout.

But defensively Boro, with academy graduate Dael Fry having to perform brilliantly at the heart of the backline, followed on from last season’s miserly ways by keeping another clean sheet, even if Preston could and should have taken the lead.

Despite an early error through a lack of experience which did not come to anything, Fry could not be faulted. In the absence of Ben Gibson, who could be fit for next Saturday’s visit of Bolton, the 17-year-old centre-back was composed and effective, even though he had the menacing Joe Garner trying to wind every man in a red shirt up.

It was a bold move, albeit justified, by Karanka to throw the homegrown talent into the side after a promising pre-season. Whatever preparations went on worked, as the Middlesbrough-born England Under-17 international recovered from an early late tackle on Garner, which could have earned a card, to keep things relatively tight.

After Grant Leadbitter had uncharacteristically wasted an even better opportunity to score the first, the Lilywhites should have taken the lead a couple of times.

There was a glancing free header from Bailey Wright which failed to find the target, but the two later in the half were much better.

When goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos failed to deal with Paul Gallagher’s deep free-kick on to the penalty spot, the ball fell invitingly to Will Keane. The Manchester United prospect, on loan from Old Trafford, had the goal to aim for but George Friend got back to clear off the line.

Seconds later there was danger again. This time Konstantopoulos was unable to gather another ball into his area, only he redeemed himself by reacting to charge and stop Garner’s chip from finding the net.

Preston could even have had a penalty at that point, had referee Chris Kavanagh deemed Friend had hauled Garner down when the defender had his arms around him in the area. Nevertheless those danger signs suggested Middlesbrough, who had held the ball for longer spells up to that point, could not take anything for granted.

The afternoon might have gone more smoothly had Leadbitter converted his chance. The skipper, who scored goals for fun in the first half of last season, created the opening himself when he played a lovely one-two with Kike.

But Leadbitter somehow curled his shot from 12 yards wide of the upright after creating space with a lovely side-step.

That was as much as Boro could offer as an attacking force in the first half, with Kike isolated and never able to break behind the defence in the system which is preferred by Karanka. You would imagine Rhodes, a last man goal poacher, could find it difficult in such a style too.

After the restart the play did open up more and Kike almost broke the deadlock when he moved cleverly to the near post to flick Albert Adomah’s cross towards the near post, where Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford turned away for a corner with a fine one-handed save.

And Diego Fabbrini’s introduction for winger Adam Reach afforded more movement behind the striker from him and Downing, which caused Preston immediate problems when the former played a lovely pass behind the full-back for Adomah.

The Ghana international looked like he would score after rounding Pickford, but Welsh came from nowhere to clear.

Kike’s withdrawal shortly after meant a debut for Stuani, who only received international clearance on Thursday following his £3.6m move from Espanyol. Operating as the central striker is not exactly what Karanka has in mind for him as the pursuit for Rhodes goes on, and he hardly got a touch.

But there was still time for an opportunity at either end for a winner in the dying stages. The first was for Boro when Adomah’s shot was well blocked by former Newcastle defender Paul Huntington after a lovely cross from Downing ended up at his feet, while Garner headed wide at the back post for Preston from Greg Cuningham’s cross.