Preston North End 1-1 Luton Town: Ten-man Lilywhites fight back for point

Troy Parrott scores Preston North End's equaliser against Luton Town from the penalty spot

Luton Town continued their Championship play-off push despite conceding a late equaliser to 10-man Preston North End.

The hosts ended a miserable run of home form - having lost their past five league games at Deepdale - thanks to Troy Parrott's goal from the penalty spot in the 81st minute.

Hatters boss Rob Edwards will consider his team unlucky not to have claimed all three points in Lancashire having taken a lead through a close-range header by Carlton Morris.

Luton had already missed a host of chances with Elijah Adebayo going close several times from close range.

Preston, meanwhile, had to claim their point the hard way having lost Ben Whiteman to a straight red card following a reckless challenge on Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in the 50th minute.

The home side were full of enterprise early on, dominating periods of play. Alistair McCann found Parrott at the far post in the 14th minute and he hooked the ball back towards goal, only for Ethan Horvath to palm away.

From there on it was Luton who enjoyed the better chances.

The Hatters went close to opening the scoring when they were denied by Freddie Woodman. The follow-up by Jordan Clark was blocked by McCann before Alvaro Fernandez cleared the danger as the ball rebounded in the penalty area.

Luton squandered a great chance in the 37th minute when the unmarked Adebayo peeled away from the Preston defence only to drag his shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Amari'i Bell went close for the visitors just before the break. Fred Onyedinma broke down Luton's right and picked out Bell, but the left-back's shot fizzed past the post.

Preston's evening took a downward turn when they were reduced to 10 men just five minutes into the second half. Whiteman was given a straight red card for an ugly challenge on Mpanzu.

Adebayo was playing well, but frustratingly wasteful. He was presented with a brilliant chance in the 54th minute when he was released by the night's outstanding performer in Clark. The Luton striker got clear of the Preston defence, only for his final effort to fall woefully short of quality, with his shot going wide of the right-hand post.

Luton's pressure finally paid off on 73 minutes when a left-wing cross evaded the Preston defence. Morris was lurking at the far post to nod the ball past Woodman. The home team tried to scramble away quickly, but the ball had long since crossed the line.

And yet Preston were level just eight minutes later. Luton switched off and Tom Lockyer handled in the box, with Parrott levelling from the spot.

North End went close to claiming the most unlikely of leads during the final throes as Cannon fired wide from 18 yards.

Despite late pressure from Luton both sides ended the night settling for a point. The Hatters sit fourth in the table with Preston in 14th - six points off the play-off places.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe said:

"I thought the fight, the spirit, the togetherness, was first class, I've got ultimate faith in the group that we can turn defeats into draws and draws into wins. It feels a bit more like it, it's not the three points but it's one.

"I said to the boys at half-time that we had to get after them and then unfortunately Ben got the red card but I'm not going to stop Ben tackling, it is what it is.

"The lads rallied around after the red card and we could have won it, but they could have won it as well. You've just got to pull together when things like that happen and that's what they did.

"I thought Troy was fantastic, he's rifled it down the middle and I am really pleased for him and hopefully he can kick on now."

Luton boss Rob Edwards said:

"I'm really pleased with big parts of the performance and we've got to look at performances, but ultimately we want results. We want points on the board and I do feel like it was two points dropped tonight.

"I thought we got that goal, they had that man sent off, and we were looking completely dominant, as I really felt we were with 11 men as well.

"We kept pushing, we kept trying, but we weren't able to find that second goal, which I know I've said a couple of times lately.

"You can't do that much more then create the chances we created, and then it's down to the boys to either hit the target or be ruthless.

"That's something we're going to try and keep focusing on and keep hitting home, but what I'm really pleased with is the performance and how we did create the chances."