Preston North End 2 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Owls show real grit to salvage point at Preston

Irvine, 51, was surprisingly sacked by Preston in December, despite an impressive two-year tenure in which he saved them from relegation before guiding them into the play-offs last year.

The Owls quickly snapped up Irvine to lead their battle against the drop, and his players illustrated their stomach for the fight by storming back from two goals down to earn a draw.

Neil Mellor fired Preston ahead in the 29th minute and when midfielder Paul Coutts added a second eight minutes after the restart, it looked all over for Irvine and his side.

Yet the former Everton assistant boss has fashioned a side with guts. They hit back with a speculative effort from distance by Tommy Miller in the 53rd minute and Marcus Tudgay's superb finish drew the Owls level four minutes later.

Irvine lost winger Jermaine Johnson to injury after just nine minutes, replacing him with Tom Soares, but the visitors should have soon led when Luke Varney headed Eddie Nolan's cross straight at goalkeeper Andy Lonergan.

Preston established control through Mellor's clinical opener. Coutts's delightful pass dissected the Wednesday defence and allowed Billy Jones to strike at goal. Jones's low shot was blocked by Wednesday captain Darren Purse but Mellor tucked away the rebound.

Preston struck again in the 53rd minute when Coutts engineered space inside Wednesday's 18-yard box and squeezed a low right-foot shot past Grant from an acute angle.

The goal seemed to jolt Wednesday into life and four minutes later Lonergan inexplicably allowed Miller's 30-yard piledriver to slip in.

The Owls continued to pour forward and were rewarded when Tudgay took advantage of another defensive slip in the home ranks and clipped a delightful finish over the advancing Lonergan.

Preston North End: Lonergan, Jones, St. Ledger, Chilvers, Davidson, Sedgwick (Mayor 67), Coutts, James, Wallace (Treacy 88), Brown (Parkin 61), Mellor. Unused substitutes: Henderson, Hart, Chaplow, Neill Collins.

Sheffield Wednesday: Grant, Nolan, Purse, Beevers, Spurr, Johnson (Soares 9), Potter, O'Connor, Miller, Tudgay, Varney (Clarke 67). Unused substitutes: O'Donnell, Hinds, Jeffers, Simek, Gray.

Referee: Carl Boyeson (E Yorkshire).