Luton Town 1-1 Preston North End: Callum McManaman strike earns hosts draw
- Published
Nathan Jones got Luton promoted from League Two in his first spell before leaving to join Stoke
Substitute Callum McManaman's fine late strike earned struggling Luton Town a draw with play-off hopefuls Preston North End in Nathan Jones' first game back in charge at Kenilworth Road.
Former Wigan winger McManaman found the top corner with a unstoppable shot from the edge of the box with the home side's first effort on target.
Up until then Preston had been the better team on the return of Championship football behind closed doors, deservedly going ahead when Tom Barkhuizen got the better of Martin Cranie and fed Scott Sinclair, who was allowed to move inside and sidefoot into the far corner.
But it was Luton who looked most likely to find a stoppage-time winner, Ryan Tunnicliffe curling just over Declan Rudd's goal from long range.
The Hatters fall to the foot of the table despite the draw, with Barnsley winning at QPR, but close the gap to safety to five points as 21st-placed Middlesbrough lost 3-0 to Swansea.
Alex Neil's Preston, meanwhile, remain sixth and just a point above Blackburn and Swansea.
Sean Maguire twice went close for the visitors in a scrappy first half, denied by the sprawling Simon Sluga after the Irishman saw a low effort deflect wide.
Luton could have fallen further behind before their leveller, Paul Gallagher's free-kick palmed away by Sluga and Ben Pearson's fierce drive flying just over.
Work to do for Luton and Jones
Luton goalscorer Callum McManaman was one of five substitutes used by each side under new EFL protocols
Jones left Luton in January 2019 while they were second in League One to join Stoke, who sacked him in November.
But despite the fractious way he left the Hatters, the club moved to reappoint the Welshman last month after parting company with Graeme Jones in April.
On this performance - despite claiming a late point - Jones has a lot of work to do if Luton are to escape from the relegation zone.
McManaman's wonderstrike was their only effort on goal as they looked understandably off the pace after the league's three-month suspension because of coronavirus.
The Bedfordshire club will realistically need something from tricky trips to Swansea and Leeds to keep in touch with safety by the time they host Reading on 4 July.
Preston will need ruthless streak
Neil will be frustrated that his side were unable to see out a win that would have given his side a three-point buffer over the play-off chasing pack.
While Preston were not at their best the likes of Maguire, Gallagher and Ben Pearson looked relatively sharp given the lack of recent match action.
Back-to-back home games against fellow top-six chasers Cardiff and Derby follow for the Lilywhites, who will hope Deepdale remains a fortress despite the lack of support.
Match reaction
Luton boss Nathan Jones told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"If we'd have nicked it possibly it would have been harsh on Preston because they're a very good side."As long as we're still in the mix, and right now we're a point closer to safety than we were when we started, if we can do that over nine games then eventually we'll be out of there."At the minute we're not at the levels we need to be because we've had three weeks work with them, we're not miracle workers."
Preston manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I'm not satisfied with a point today, that's me being brutally honest, it would be easy to wash over it and say it's the first game and I'm quite happy.
"As a squad I'm not happy we haven't won the game, because we deserved to.
"We lacked a bit of concentration for that big moment and it has cost us."