Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe felt his side were deserving of their late equaliser against Rovers.

Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men were on the verge of an important win in the play-off race after Sam Szmodics broke the deadlock 10 minutes from time.

But the hosts hit back through a Dom Hyam own goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Lowe believes it was a fair result and highlighted the "firepower" Rovers brought on at half time, with Ben Brereton and Ryan Hedges both joining the fold.

The 44-year-old told sky Sports: “It does (feel like a win) in the end. I thought we would have been hard done by losing.

“It was a good moment for them, Szmodics gets down the side. We have to keep him going down, but we don’t. He comes in and slots it in.

“But the character our lads showed, I thought first half we had chances to hurt them and maybe get a goal or two. You see the firepower they are bringing on at half time and we had to change again.

“It was two local teams fighting for three points, obviously both teams needed it. You look at it and think, ‘fair result’. But it feels a bit better for us because it is a 90-odd minute equaliser.”

The result leaves Rovers seventh in the table, only outside the top six on goal difference, ahead of Tuesday’s East Lancashire derby against Burnley.

Meanwhile, Preston are two points behind in ninth place heading into the final games of the campaign.

“We have got two good games to go into,” Lowe added. “We can take it to the last game of the season at home to Sunderland with potentially four or five teams are still going for it.

“If we can do that and get anywhere close, I will be pleased. We will take the point after losing two on the road and see if we can pick up three next time.”

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