Preston North End surrendered a two-goal advantage as Alan Irvine returned to Deepdale to claim a point in a keenly contested roses battle.

The Lilywhites had looked comfortable at 2-0 thanks to a first half strike from Neil Mellor and Paul Coutts grabbing his first goal for the Club in the second half. But Wednesday hit back with two goals of their own in a frantic three minute spell with Tommy Miller getting his obligatory goal against Preston and Marcus Tudgay grabbing an equaliser.

Preston could have won the match when Danny Mayor nodded wide from three yards out but were left frustrated and now face tricky trips to West Brom and Middlesborough to keep their Championship season alive.

North End made just one change to the team which had defeated Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Liam Chilvers replacing the injured Youl Mawene at centre-half. Preston also had Jon Parkin available but he had to stay content with a place on the bench.

The first chance of the game came in the sixth minute of the match when good forward play from Mellor and Brown teed the ball up for midfielder Paul Coutts to get a shot away. Lee Grant was well placed to gather the shot which was from 25-yards out.

An early substitution in the game came when Jermaine Johnson was replaced by Tom Soares for the Owls.

Sheffield Wednesday's first chance came on 12 minutes when Luke Varney was played down the right flank and he squared a ball into the path of Marcus Tudgay whose overhead kick towards the back post was almost turned home by substitute Tom Soares.

The visitors had another opportunity moments later when a cross was played in from the right and Varney got ahead of Liam Chilvers to nod the ball towards goal. Varney's header had power and placement but was well saved by Andy Lonergan.

Matt James, fresh from his fine goal against Forest at the weekend, fancied his chances again on 13 minutes, he picked the ball up in a similar position was invited to shoot by the amount of space he was given. James' curling effort beat the keeper but was only inches over the crossbar.

North End had two consecutive corners which caused all sorts of problems on the twenty minute mark. Ross Wallace took them on the left and for each one North End did not have a man in the box but instead chose to have a crowd of players on the edge of the D waiting to run on to the cross. The first one came in and Billy Jones' header brought out a fantastic save from Lee Grant. The second corner was also met by a header but this time Chris Brown at the near post sent a looping header towards goal, which just landed on the top of the goal.

Andy Lonergan had to be at his sharpest in the 24th minute of the match. A ball was played into the box from the right and Tommy Miller nodded the ball in behind the defence, Tudgay reacted first and his shot on the angle was well blocked by Lonergan low down.

Ross Wallace launched a counter-attack one minute later, Wallace storming down the left flank, he played it in front of Paul Coutts who was storming into the box and Coutts looked to have been clipped as he got the ball. The ball was tackled towards the keeper and he fumbled the ball forcing the Wednesday defence into a hasty clearance.

The first goal of the game came in the 29th minute of the match. A stunning defence splitting pass from Paul Coutts played Billy Jones into the box, the North End full-back looked up and opted to play a low cross to the far post, the ball was half-cleared but only into the path of Mellor who took one touch before slamming the ball home.

Neil Mellor almost grabbed a second in the 33rd minute of the match. The Preston striker on the end of a backwards glancing header from Eddie Nolan and he surged into the box. There wasn't a North End shirt up in support and the angle was tight but Mellor still got a shot away and Lee Grant only got half a hand to the ball to unconvincingly turn the ball over the crossbar.

Preston produced another corner-kick from the training ground moments later. This time a crowd of Preston players ran into the box from a wide angle and though the header was cleared to the edge of the box, Chris Brown was waiting and he volleyed an effort towards the inside of the post and it took a good save from Grant to deny Preston a second goal.

Preston North End's second goal of the game came in the 54th minute of the match and it was a fantastic counter-attacking move. Neil Mellor picked the ball up and drove down the middle of the park, he spotted Billy Jones to his right in acres of space and played the ball into his path. Jones played a square ball into the path of Paul Coutts on the edge of the box and his determination with the ball took him into a shooting chance from a tight angle. Coutts tried his luck and somehow squeezed the ball home for a well deserved first strike for the Club.

Wednesday got a goal back in the 57th minute of the match. Tommy Miller with a speculative effort from 25-yards out which somehow deceived Andy Lonergan and bobbled over the keeper and into the net. Former Preston loanee Miller keeping up his fine record of scoring against the Lilywhites.

Wednesday's equaliser came in the 59th minute of the match. A harmless ball was played through the centre of defence, Liam Chilvers seemed to slip and could not get a toe on the ball and Tudgay had a chance in front of goal, Lonergan came out to close the striker down the Wednesday man dinked the ball into the net.

Chris Brown was replaced by Jon Parkin on the hour mark to add some extra bite to the North End attack.

A couple of substitutions in the 67th minute. North End sent on Danny Mayor to replace Chris Sedgwick whilst Leon Clarke replaced Varney for the Owls.

Marcus Tudgay had a snap shot at goal in the 70th minute of the match following a scramble on the edge of the Preston box. Tudgay's effort was comfortably saved by Lonergan in the middle of the Preston goal.

Mayor had an unbelievable opportunity to put the Lilywhites ahead on 73 minutes. Another of those worked corners, Jones the first to get to the ball and he nodded it towards goal where Danny Mayor was stood in front of the keeper, Mayor attempted to head it past the keeper but the ball went agonisingly wide for the young winger.

Eddie Nolan almost sprung the offside trap against his parent club in the 85th minute of the match. He slid in a perfectly timed ball into the feet of Leon Clarke and his tight shot from the angle brought a crucial intervention from Andy Lonergan.

Lonergan and Clarke were at it again seconds later. From the corner Clarke powered a header towards goal and Lonergan produced a fantastic one-handed save to palm the ball around the post.

North End made one final change of the evening with two minutes left on the clock. Keith Treacy replacing Ross Wallace.

And there was time for one last assault on the Wednesday goal in the last minute of added time. Paul Coutts swung a corner in from the right and Jon Parkin arrived late to power a header towards goal at the back post. Unfortunately for the Lilywhites the header fell just the wrong side of the post.

North End must now look to Saturday's trip to The Hawthorns and hope that they can dent the automatic promotion hopes of another club for a second consecutive Saturday.