Darren Ferguson watched his side play out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Deepdale on Tuesday night, but was disappointed not to come away with the three points, with Mellor, Parkin and substitute Matt James all having excellent chances to give the Lilywhites what would have been a deserved win, for their second half display.

Neil Mellor equalised James Hayter's opener in the first half, before Andrew Lonergan brilliant saved Billy Sharp's dubious penalty for the visitors, but the introduction of youngsters Danny Mayor and loanee James gave North End impetus and almost gave them the win.

"It was a really good game," Ferguson told the press. "I think it was an exciting game, with end to end stuff and in the end we should of won it with the three really good chances, so I am disappointed we didn't get the three points.

"I thought we started the game okay, but then they came back into it. We knew how Doncaster would play and we didn't play as a unit and they ran in between us at times, which caused us problems and for 20 minutes there was no doubt that they were the better team. We were going in ones and twos rather than as a team and we spoke about that at the break and we made ourselves a more compact unit and the second half was a much better performance.

"The introduction of Danny Mayor and Matty James livened us up and I thought made a difference with their energies. It was a tough call to leave Matty out, but he's played a lot of games and he's not used to that. He's been very tired, so I felt we needed to freshen him up a bit.

"Danny's got a real chance. He excites people, goes both ways, has a really temperament. We just have to be careful when we put him in. A few more wins and I am sure we'll see a lot more of him - everyone can see his talent and the age is irrelevant to me - sometimes it can help the old players when you put young legs in and the young players have a carefree attitude, they don't really worry about anything, which is refreshing.

"There were some really good performances tonight, but I am not happy with the result - we have to be winning our home games."

One of the best chances mentioned by the manager was created by Mayor for James and this youthful pair are a big part of the manager's philosophy: "I've said all along that if they are good enough they will get a chance and Danny has come on, he's got a good temperament and he's taken the game to them.

"We had some tired legs out there today though. Tom Williams got injured with a kick, and we'll have to assess him in the morning, but Callum came on and did excellent for us.

"Jon Parkin was exhausted at the end, but I had made my substitutions and I was just thankful that he wasn't injured, because I thought he had done his knee ligaments."

Despite the chances, North End could have lost the game after referee Phil Crossley saw a foul by Sean St. Ledger, something the manager did not see: "I need to see the incident again, but I thought Sean headed it. I think the referee came under pressure at half-time because they felt they could have had a penalty in the first have. He gave them one, but two wrongs don't make a right. I don't think many people could believe it, Sean was gobsmacked.

"The decision not to send the lad off was an absolutely appalling decision; it was a clear booking - Chris Sedgwick did exactly the same with a minute to go and he booked him.

"For the penalty the big man has made a really good save and he's in really good form. He made two brilliant saves as well in the first half, including one that ricocheted that came right at him from Roberts, so I am really pleased with him again. He's been on the front foot and is showing what a really good player he is."

Summing it up, the manager felt that it was two points dropped, but is looking forward to locking horns with one of his predecessors at the weekend: "A win would have put us ahead of them and in the top half and that's where we want to be, but it's another two home games now and I am sure they'll be exciting.

"It is two games where I feel we have dropped four points in and those four points could make a big difference. It would have put us on 48 points and we would have been right up there, but I have to take the positives and we are unbeaten in three and we now have to turn draws into wins."