The preparations for this one were somewhat disrupted by a virus which ruled out Callum Davidson and David Nugent and then first half injuries to Chris Lucketti and Adam Nowland made things even more tricky.

Matt Hill came in for Davidson while Gavin Ward and Dickson Etuhu returned to the bench in an otherwise unchanged squad.

But things went from bad to worse for Davies when both his skipper and midfield lynchpin in Lucketti and Nowland were forced off in the first half.

Plenty of talk has been about the importance of the squad and not just the 11 players on the pitch and that was certainly the case today with everyone playing their part.

North End started brightly and had their first corner with just a minute on the clock and their second on three after a good driving run from Adam Nowland.

Jones whipped the ball in the right deceived everyone, the goalkeeper included who flapped at it and Lucketti should have scored.

But the skipper made up for it at the other end a minute later when he made a superb block on Gyps before the Wolves number 24 saw a shot deflected over.

The corner was only half cleared and fell for Miller on the edge of the box, the Scottish international hit a great dipping shot which Nash did well to tip over.

It was real end to end stuff and on 8 minutes Adam Nowland created another good opening for the visitors when, after getting to the byline he drove a ball right across the face of goal but unfortunately no one could get the touch that was needed.

On 18 minutes David Jones had the travelling North End fans on their feet with a run that left two Wolves defenders reeling. The Manchester United youngster weaved his way into the box before finally being closed down and Gabor Gyepes eventually made the block to clear the danger.

Billy Davies was forced into an early change on 27 minutes, Chris Lucketti forced off after a late challenge from Vio Ganea. The skipper tried to battle on but it was clear from the grimace that he was in some pain and he was replaced by Youl Mawene, with Alexander taking the Captain's armband.

Two minutes later another good move from PNE involving Paul McKenna, who had also been suffering with a virus this week, he played in Jones who fired a shot in from the edge of the area which was collected by Oakes.

Things went from bad to worse on the injury front when Adam Nowland was helped off on 43 minutes, with what looked to be a groin problem. Dickson Etuhu was the man to replace him.

North End could have take the lead on the stroke of half time a right wing cross from Tye Mears was deflected goalbound but Oakes did superbly well to claw the ball away.

GOAL!!!!!!!! North End did take the lead just seconds later from the resulting corner. The corner was taken from the left by Paul McKenna, who was in excellent form, and Dickson Etuhu was on hand to head the ball home with his first touch of the game.

The goal was just rewards for Billy Davies' side who were outplaying the home side all over the field.

Graham Alexander talked in the week of silencing the crowd but even without Nowland and Lucketti they did more than that as Glenn Hoddle's side left the field to a chorus of boos.

North End lined up the second half in more of a 4-1-4-1 formation with Etuhu linking the defence and midfield and Patrick Agyemang ploughing a lone furrow upfront but he was ably assisted by the midfield five of Mears, McKenna, Jones, Neal and Etuhu.

10 minutes after the restart Wolves had a rare foray into the opposition area, a cross by Seol was knocked down by Lee Naylor in to Ganea but in the end his shot was an easy catch for Carlo Nash in the North End goal.

Two minutes later Seol bought another save out of Nash, with a low shot which the big man got down well to collect.

At the other end (59) David Jones should have doubled the lead when PNE were four on three in the area. A flick from Neal out to Jones on the left opened up the defence and he raced forward, cutting infield but instead of crossing for one of three of his team mates he hit a terrific shot, from a narrow angle which cannoned back off the right hand post.

Just a minute later Wolves were back on level terms Vio Ganea scoring just his second of the season. A ball in by Seol was volleyed home by the Romanian, who was subsequently cautioned for his over the top celebration.

The yellow card proved costly on 70 minutes when the striker was booked for a late lunge on Paul McKenna and was sent off leaving PNE with the extra man for the remaining 20 minutes.

North End were back on the attack following the sending off, with Dickson Etuhu under clear instruction from the boss as to how he and the team should take advantage of the extra man.

Jones had a shot deflected wide before a header from Davis came off the head of Miller for a successive corner.

Billy Davies made his final change on 78 minutes when Chris Sedgwick replaced Lewis Neal. The personnel change saw Tye Mears move on to the left with Sedgwick taking up his usual place on the right.

Carlo Nash made a great stop on 82 minutes when he was quick off his line to bravely collect a driven effort by Edwards, at the feet of Miller.

Just seconds later and Edwards was in the thick of the action at the other end deflecting a shot by Paul McKenna wide for another corner.

It was corner after corner for the visitors and Lescott was forced to head behind from one on 88 minutes, under immense pressure from Mawene, who then headed the resulting corner behind.

In the end another point for North End but yet another impressive performance away from home against a side, who like ourselves, are desperate to be in the shake up at the top of the table.

PNE: Nash, Alexander, Hill, Davis, Jones, Agyemang, Mears, McKenna, Lucketti, Neal, Nowland.

Subs: Mawene, Sedgwick, Etuhu, Dichio, Ward

Wolves: Oakes, Naylor Lescott, Anderton, Kennedy, Davies, Gyepes, Edwards, Ganea, Ki-Hyeon, Miller

Subs: Postma, Craddock, Olofinajana, Cameron, Clarke