Town and Preston's FA Cup third round replay at Deepdale remains 0-0 at the break.
Mick McCarthy named the expected much-changed side with Scott Loach in goal, Carlos Edwards at right-back, Tyrone Mings at left-back and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra at the centre of the defence.
Luke Hyam, Jay Tabb and Ryan Tunnicliffe made up a three-man midfield behind a frontline of Frank Nouble in the middle, Paul Anderson on the right and Stephen Hunt on the left.
Academy scholars Byron Lawrence, Kyle Hammond and Matt Clarke were on the bench, alongside veteran frontman Alan Lee. Preston made seven changes to the team which lost to Wolves at the weekend.
Hunt won an early corner with a strong burst through the middle as the Blues started brightly as heavy rain fell. Soon afterwards, Frank Nouble headed to Preston keeper Declan Rudd from Anderson’s right-wing cross.
Town weren’t too far away in the 17th minute when on-loan Norwich man Rudd failed to get much distance on his punch from Hunt’s left-sided corner but Tunnicliffe’s cushioned volley was just too high.
The game developed into an underwhelming, mistake-ridden affair with neither side able to create an opening until Hunt fed Nouble on the edge of the box in the 37th minute, but Paul Huntington blocked his shot.
Moments before the half-time whistle, Chris Humphrey sent over a cross from the Preston right but Kevin Davies was unable to get anything on it and it went out of play on the opposite flank.
Town had just about had the better of a dull half played in a muted almost reserves-like atmosphere. The Blues had created a couple of at best half-chances but had failed to overly test Rudd, while Town keeper Loach’s most significant involvement was clutching a couple of crosses.
Town: Loach, Edwards, Berra, Smith, Mings, Anderson, Hunt, Tabb, Hyam, Tunnicliffe, Nouble. Unused: Gerken, Hammond, M Clarke, Lawrence, Lee, Taylor, McGoldrick.
Preston: Rudd, Keane, Laird, Huntington, Clarke, Humphrey, Kilkenny, Hayhurst, Gallagher, Davies, Brownhill. Unused: Stuckmann, Wright, Beavon, Holmes, Byrom, Garner, Hume. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).