Derby County 2-2 Luton Town: Elijah Adebayo header earns Hatters draw
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Fred Onyedinma scored on his first Luton appearance since late August
Luton Town twice came from behind to draw at bottom side Derby County as both sides extended their unbeaten Championship runs to four matches.
Wayne Rooney's Rams deservedly went in ahead at the break through Tom Lawrence, who drilled into the bottom corner after Jason Knight had pinched the ball off Luton defender Sonny Bradley.
The Hatters levelled when Harry Cornick's long throw was flicked on for Fred Onyedinma to bundle home but Lawrence then turned provider for Knight to powerfully strike through Simon Sluga and put Derby 2-1 up.
However home keeper Ryan Allsop flapped at a lofted cross from Luton's James Bree, allowing Elijah Adebayo to nod in a second equaliser, with the visitors almost nicking all three points late on when Onyedinma chipped against the bar.
Derby's third draw on the bounce leaves them five points from safety before Wednesday's games, with Luton up a place to ninth.
Hatters boss Nathan Jones was clearly not happy with what he saw in the first half an hour at Pride Park, making a double substitution - including the introduction of Onyedinma, who vindicated that decision with his second-half display.
At 1-1 Knight was put through by Ravel Morrison at an angle for Derby, but Luton goalkeeper Sluga came darting out to close the angle and force his opponent to lift the ball over.
The away side gave as good as they got in the second half, Adebayo's shot kept out by a terrific last-ditch block from veteran Derby defender Phil Jagielka.
Croatia keeper Sluga arguably should have done better with Derby's second, which was straight at him, but his opposite number made a more glaring error for Luton's second and was fortunate not to concede a third when Onyedinma's dink bounced out off the woodwork.
The draw does mean Derby are unbeaten in their first seven league games at home for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign, when they were in the Premier League.
Derby manager Wayne Rooney:
"It was a tough one to take. I felt we did enough to win the game, scored two good goals and then we conceded two very sloppy goals which we haven't been doing.
"We know long throw-ins are difficult to deal with but we've dealt really well with them of late so that was disappointing to concede from that.
"We had a great reaction with a very good goal from Jason Knight but then obviously it's a clear mistake from Ryan Allsop which has cost us three points.
"We are competing in every game and we know we are a hard team to play against but I'm frustrated tonight with one point."
Luton boss Nathan Jones:
"The performance levels were nowhere near and we looked energy-less for lots of the first half.
"We shot ourselves in the foot, we made changes and we started the second half like a house on fire, got the goal but then a bit of a sucker punch again.
"We had to show a load of character and I'm really pleased after two away games and four points against two really difficult sides.
"Considering we were way off our levels, we've come away from a difficult place with a point which shows we have something about us."