An unfortunate last-minute own goal from sub Ched Evans rescued a point for Southampton in a dramatic 2-2 draw at Preston.

As the end of six minutes of added time approached, Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu was sent up for Ryan Fraser’s corner, and his presence led to the under-pressure Evans diverting past Freddie Woodman.

The late drama meant Southampton extend their unbeaten run to five games, while gutsy Preston were denied what had looked likely to be a first victory in six following goals from Milutin Osmajic and Brad Potts.

The first Championship meeting between these two in almost 15 years saw North End threaten first.

Recalled wide-man Liam Millar charged down the left before curling in a sweet shot which Bazunu dived full length to palm away.

It had been an encouraging start from the hosts, but the in-form Saints replied with skipper Adam Armstrong firing off target following Shea Charles’ neat lay-off.

Despite their recent dip in form following a terrific start to the season, Preston were definitely up for this one and they went close again when Millar fizzed an effort wide from 22 yards, while Mads Frokjaer-Jensen also tried his luck from distance.

After that there was a period of probing as both sides tried to gain the upper hand.

It was Southampton who broke the deadlock after 33 minutes.

A soft goal from Preston’s point of view as defenders stood off right-back Kyle Walker-Peters before he was allowed space to curl home left-footed from an acute angle.

The terrific travelling support from the south coast were almost on their feet again soon after when Will Smallbone’s near-post cross found Armstrong, but he poked wide.

Walker-Peters then turned hero at the other end as he helped Bazunu divert Will Keane’s strike off the line and onto the post, though Preston players appeared convinced that he had used his arm in doing so.

Preston levelled the scores seven minutes after the restart. Osmajic nailed the finish, with the half-time substitute drilling home on the volley after Ben Whiteman’s cross into the box was not cleared.

The Deepdale roof was raised still further three minutes later when Preston scored again.

This time Potts took a pass from Osmajic before darting down the right flank and tucking underneath Bazunu from a tight angle.

Once Saints had settled again, they pushed hard for a leveller.

Subs Stuart Armstrong and Sekou Mara were both denied by Freddie Woodman, while Charles was wasteful when he blazed over with five minutes left.

Saints eventually got their reward deep into stoppage time in the most dramatic of fashion.

Summer signing Duane Holmes scored the winner as Preston came from behind to beat Swansea 2-1.

North End, who have now won their last three Championship games having drawn their opener, are enjoying their best start to a campaign for 15 years.

The Swans, meanwhile, are still looking for their first win of the season under new boss Michael Duff.

The visitors started brightly at Deepdale and threatened first when Liam Cullen – in for big-money departure Joel Piroe – lashed in a shot which took a deflection before flying just over the crossbar.

At the other end, Brad Potts dragged a smart pass into the path of Ryan Ledson but he clipped an effort narrowly over the top.

Both sides probed for an opening, with the Swans again going close when Cullen curled inches off target after being neatly teed up by Josh Key.

Preston came back with a great chance of their own as Holmes pulled a terrific pass back for the onrushing Mads Frokjaer, only for the Danish midfielder to scoop a disappointing shot off target from 10 yards.

Andrew Hughes fired wide from distance for Preston, while an unmarked Frokjaer’s effort from the edge of the Swans’ box was woefully high.

The Swans punished wasteful North End with a terrific strike after 33 minutes. Charlie Patino crossed in superbly for the onrushing Harrison Ashby and he buried an angled volley from eight yards.

Preston striker Will Keane almost produced an instant reply, but his snapshot was superbly kept out by keeper Carl Rushworth.

The Swans carved out the first chance of the second period as skipper Matt Grimes found space on the edge of the North End box, eventually firing a foot wide and into the side-netting.

With the visitors taking control as the hour mark approached, they almost bagged a second goal. Key curled in an effort which flicked off defender Jordan Storey before drifting just over the crossbar.

Preston finally gained some rhythm and Frokjaer turned neatly before a crisp 20-yard drive only just cleared the crossbar.

North End then evened it up in the 67th minute when Hughes rose highest to flick home a measured cross from skipper Alan Browne.

Twelve minutes later the tie was turned on its head when Holmes sidefooted home clinically as he charged in to meet Frokjaer’s low cross for what turned out to be the decisive goal.

Ryan Lowe hailed the spirit of his injury-hit Preston squad after they battled to an entertaining 2-1 win against Sunderland.

Lowe is missing six first-team players, including Ched Evans and Emil Riis, but revelled in an excellent win at a raucous Deepdale courtesy of Mads Frokjaer-Jensen’s second-half strike.

Frokjaer-Jensen helped to set-up Preston’s opener, when his shot deflected in off Will Keane, before Jack Clarke equalised for Sunderland with a penalty following Kian Best’s scruffy tackle.

Frokjaer-Jensen then scored the winner on the hour mark and Lowe was proud of his team after securing four points from six in the Championship so far.

“We’d like to have played a little bit more football but sometimes it’s just winning games of football early doors,” he said.

“We’re down to the bare bones and have got a lot of kids out there.

“Until we get a fully fit squad back, we’ve just got to find ways how to win and that’s what we did today – we found a way to win.

“It was a bit nerve-wracking I must say, but it was entertaining football.

“I think we were a little bit different in terms of being a bit more dogged in our defence and doing the right thing and stopping them at source because they’ve got some good players.

“They’ve caused loads of problems but we felt if we could deal with that, we’d always have opportunities to score goals which we did. Overall I’m pleased with the performance.”

Preston sit eighth in the table after two games, but Sunderland remain without a point after a second successive defeat.

The Black Cats reached the play-offs last season but manager Tony Mowbray is refusing to panic about their slow start.

However, he admits they need to sign a striker quickly after watching his team again struggle in the final third.

“Everybody behind the scenes is working hard to try and bring attacking options to the team,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll find a guy who lives for goals and keeps banging the ball in the net and all the play building up to it, somebody is going to have a good time at the football club, hopefully.

“You should judge football by the performance of the team, but we don’t, we all get judged by the results. The results are not very good but the performance levels of the team in both games has been pretty high.

“I don’t live by expected goals, but somebody said we were top six in expected goals last weekend and yet lost, and I don’t know the number of times we got behind them in the six-yard box and just (didn’t) pick somebody out to side-foot into the empty net today.

“It’s fine margins. Was it too much different from the game at the end of the season where we had plenty of dominance but put the ball in their net three times?

“We’ll be fine and I feel as if the team are functioning OK, apart from the last little bit and we’ll be fine.

“It wasn’t to be today and we have to accept it and I’d be more worried if the team weren’t creating any chances or weren’t functioning.”

Mads Frokjaer-Jensen’s second-half strike secured Preston’s first league win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland.

Will Keane’s fortunate goal put Preston ahead midway through the first half, when Frokjaer-Jensen’s shot took a heavy deflection off the striker and diverted into the net.

Jack Clarke levelled from the penalty spot as Sunderland got back on equal terms before half-time.

However, Frokjaer-Jensen put the hosts ahead again by finishing off a counter-attack on his home debut for North End to emerge victorious.

After an even opening phase, Preston upped the tempo as Alan Browne put in a dangerous cross from the right aimed towards Keane which Luke O’Nien diverted to safety.

Up the other end, Clarke breezed past Brad Potts after the quarter-hour mark and crossed low into the box but the Preston defence cleared the dangerous delivery.

Patrick Roberts clipped in a cross aimed towards Dennis Cirkin but the defender’s header looped harmlessly over Freddie Woodman’s goal.

Woodman was called into action on 23 minutes to parry over Pierre Ekwah’s curling effort which looked to be goalbound.

But North End took the lead not long after that when Frokjaer-Jensen’s shot from outside the box struck Keane and it went past a helpless Anthony Patterson, who was totally wrongfooted.

Roberts’ free-kick from the right hand side was claimed by Woodman as Sunderland sought to level.

And the Black Cats did get back on level terms on the half-hour mark when Kian Best pulled Clarke’s shirt in the box and the winger coolly slotted home the resulting penalty to ensure the game was level at the break.

Following the interval, Best’s corner was nearly hooked in by Browne but the Black Cats cleared, while Ekwah took aim at the other end and saw a powerful effort bounce wide.

As the hour mark approached, Best worked some space on the edge of the box to dink an effort over the Sunderland goal.

And the hosts went back in front when Browne’s cross was knocked on by Keane for Frokjaer-Jensen to slot past Patterson and complete a fine counter-attacking goal.

Andrew Hughes took aim in the box but his effort landed off target for the home side, who had more energy and cutting edge to them in the second half.

Sunderland continued to threaten though and Clarke crossed from the left to Roberts, who Woodman was in the right place to deny 15 minutes before full-time.

O’Nien thumped a header wide not long after and Hughes later denied Sunderland substitute Abdoullah Ba with a great challenge to stop him going one-on-one as the hosts picked up the three points.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe was left to reflect on a costly slow start and missed chances after Sky Bet League Two Salford pulled off a penalty shoot-out win in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Connor McLennan had struck twice in the first half to give the Ammies a shock 2-0 lead.

Preston reduced the deficit just before the break through Ben Woodburn, and then Duane Holmes levelled things up at 2-2 early in the second half.

However, after being unable to complete the turnaround in 90 minutes, spot-kick misses from Ryan Ledson and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen saw Salford reach the second round with a 4-2 win in the shoot-out.

“The first half performance wasn’t what we wanted to see of course, but we got the goal just before half-time and that kept us in it,” Lowe said.

“It was a different story in the second half – there was much more impetus about us and we looked dangerous.

“We had made the changes and we did well to come back, but we should not have been in the position where we were two down.

“It was disappointing that we missed a number of chances, but we should have made their keeper work much more.”

Salford coach Neil Wood paid tribute to his players for holding their nerve in the shoot-out – which brought back painful memories for some of the League Two play-off semi-final defeat to Stockport last season.

“This is probably the best result for me since I’ve been here,” Wood said.

“We want to be right up there in League Two, but cup results like this do bring a nice bonus.

“It was nice for some of the guys who missed penalties in the play-offs to score tonight too.

“I was hoping some of them could go and take one, because it puts the demons of those semi-final misses to bed and raises their confidence again.”

Sky Bet League Two Salford dumped Championship side Preston out of the Carabao Cup after a penalty shoot-out win at Deepdale.

Preston had fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 after 90 minutes, only for substitutes Ryan Ledson and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen to miss from the spot and send the Ammies through with a 4-2 win.

The home fans had earlier been left stunned as Preston took the lead after only five minutes.

Connor McLennan fired a rebound into the top corner after his initial strike from Luke Bolton’s low cross was blocked by Preston defender Patrick Bauer.

North End almost levelled soon after through summer signing Duane Holmes, before the Ammies doubled their lead after 39 minutes.

Preston debutant Jack Whatmough, who captained the side, gifted the ball to McLennan just outside the Preston box, and he slotted past David Cornell.

The home side halved the deficit just before the interval when Holmes set up Ben Woodburn for a neat finish from 12 yards.

Preston were level five minutes in the second half when Holmes pounced on a poor pass out from Salford keeper Alex Cairns.

Pushing for a winner, North End almost went in front soon after through Will Keane and Salford substitute Matty Lund missed a great chance to win it late on before the Ammies progressed from a dramatic shoot-out.

Liverpool will play their only home pre-season friendly against SV Darmstadt at Preston’s Deepdale Stadium due to renovation works at Anfield.

The expansion of the Anfield Road stand, which will increase capacity to 61,000, is close to conclusion but the club asked the Premier League to play their first match of the new campaign away from home in order for it to be finalised.

As a result Jurgen Klopp’s side will make the 36-mile trip to the 23,000-capacity Deepdale to host the newly-promoted Bundesliga side on August 7, six days before their season opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Son Heung-min welcomed his return to goalscoring form after hitting a brace in Tottenham's FA Cup victory at Preston North End.

A second-half double in Saturday's 3-0 victory brought an end to a barren run for Son, who had scored just once in 13 appearances.

Spurs had struggled during that stretch, falling behind in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Premier League and seeing speculation mount over the future of Antonio Conte.

An FA Cup trip to Deepdale offered a break from that pressure, however, and Son flourished leading the line.

Back amongst the goals, Son feels the result can provide a boost ahead of next Sunday's league showdown against Manchester City.

"I needed the goals for my confidence. It was really important, they were from the kind of positions where I like to shoot," he told BBC Sport.

"In the first half I had a couple of chances, they were on target and the keeper made a good save. The second half, they went in.

"The goals were needed, as an attacking player you always need goals, it doesn't matter how good you are playing or how bad you are playing.

"The most important thing is to get that goal. I think today it was important that I could help the team and get into the next round, I'm very happy.

"When you look at the scoresheet, it looks like a comfortable win but the FA Cup has never been comfortable. We suffered a lot away from home, the lads did an amazing job.

"There's a lot of talk about our performances and how we are playing. We are focused, we're doing what we have to do and we know what we have to improve.

"We have so much space to improve, so this game could bring us some really good energy for next weekend."

Son's goals were his first in the FA Cup since he netted against Southampton in February 2020. Indeed, each of his last four strikes in the competition have come in the fourth round.

Spurs, meanwhile, have now progressed beyond the fourth round for a fourth straight season, their longest such run in the FA Cup since 1979 to 1983, though they have been knocked out in the fifth round in the previous three campaigns.

Harry Kane remained on the bench on Saturday – it was the first time he has not featured in a Tottenham game since October 2021, ending a run of 68 successive appearances.

Son Heung-min's dazzling double and a debut goal from Arnaut Danjuma sent Tottenham through to the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-0 victory over Preston North End.

South Korea international Son curled the opening goal from 25 yards in the 50th minute to break Preston's resistance at Deepdale.

Antonio Conte's visiting side dominated throughout but mostly found clear-cut opportunities difficult to come by, though Son struck again in fine style to put them in control.

Danjuma, off the bench for his first Spurs game, rubbed salt in the wounds of the Championship side with a late third.

Danjuma added icing on the cake in the 87th minute, scuffing Kulusevski's pass into the Preston net to cap a comfortable win.

Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott has extended his contract with Antonio Conte's team until 2025 before heading to Preston North End on a season-long loan.

Promising 20-year-old forward Parrott scored nine goals as he helped League One side MK Dons to a third-place finish as a loanee last season, and will now make the step up to the Championship with Preston.

Parrott already has 15 senior caps for the Republic of Ireland, and scored the most recent of his four international goals against Scotland in June.

Having come through the ranks at Tottenham, Parrott has made just four senior appearances for the club – two in the Premier League – as he struggles to break into a star-studded frontline, which has been boosted by the arrivals of Ivan Perisic and Richarlison this transfer window.

Vincent Kompany's reign as Burnley manager will start with a difficult test on the road against Huddersfield Town.

The Championship fixtures for the 2022-23 season were released on Thursday and Kompany's first game with the Clarets, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, comes against defeated play-off finalists Huddersfield.

Burnley's relegation from the top-flight was confirmed on the final day of the season after defeat at home to Newcastle United to bring an end to a six-year spell in the Premier League, with Leeds United surviving following victory at Brentford.

Huddersfield, meanwhile, saw off Luton Town in the Championship play-off semi-finals but lost to Nottingham Forest at Wembley, denying them a return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

Elsewhere, Watford's first game back in the Championship following relegation comes at home to Sheffield United, while Norwich City are on the road against Cardiff City.

Sunderland, after a four-year stint in League One, mark their return to the second tier against Coventry City, while League One champions Wigan Athletic face Preston North End.

The new season begins on July 29 with Huddersfield's hosting of Burnley and marks the start of a challenging campaign for the 24 teams in the division, who face disruption due to the World Cup in Qatar midway through the season.

Jamaica Reggae Boy striker Andre Gray is attracting attention from English Championship club Reading FC after recently parting ways with relegated Watford.

The forward has been a part of the Watford squad since 2017 but spent the last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers.  During his stint at Queens Park Rangers, Gray scored 10 goals as they narrowly missed out on the play-offs.

Gray has had a productive stint in Championship football since joining Burnley in 2015.  The forward notched 20 in 52 at Brentford and 33 in 78 at Burnley before making a reported £17m switch to Hertfordshire in 2017.

According to reports, the player has also drawn interest from Birmingham and Preston North End where another Jamaican Daniel Johnson is a part of the squad.

Jamaica International striker Bobby Decordova-Reid’s Fulham FC will be playing Premier League football in the 2022-23 season after securing promotion to the top flight with a 3-0 victory over Preston North End in the EFL Championship at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic got goals in the 9^th and 41^st minutes to continue a prolific EFL Championship season that has so far seen him score 40 goals in 40 games.

Portuguese midfielder Fabio Carvalho got a goal in the 31^st minute before he was replaced by Reid 15 minutes before full-time.

With 86 points from 42 matches, Fulham secured their return to the highest level of English football with four games to spare.

The London-based club will be eager to improve their performance from their last Premier League season where they finished 18^th in 2020-21.  

Reid has seven goals and seven assists so far this season for the Cottagers and two goals in 16 appearances for the Reggae Boyz since making his debut in 2019.

Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi continued their EFL Cup love affairs as Liverpool edged past Preston North End 2-0 at Deepdale on Wednesday. 

Japan international Minamino made it five goals in four EFL Cup appearances before Origi scored for the 11th time in his 10th start in the competition with an impressively improvised backheel volley. 

Having been fortunate not to go behind in the first half when Sean Maguire, Ryan Ledson and Brad Potts failed to take their chances, Minamino made the breakthrough for Liverpool in the 62nd minute. 

The Premier League giants dominated possession throughout and were sure of a place in the quarter-finals for just the second time in five seasons after Origi somehow flicked the ball home with six minutes remaining. 

Preston initially looked more dangerous despite seeing less of the ball and ought to have taken the lead in the 28th minute when they had three chances in rapid succession. 

Adrian did brilliantly to deny Maguire from six yards after Joe Gomez was dispossessed, and Neco Williams' goal-line clearance kept Ledson out on the follow-up. The rebound fell to Potts, but he sliced his attempt high and wide.  

After wasting a chance at the start of the second half, there was no mistake from Minamino with his next opportunity as he stabbed in a cutback from Williams after a brilliant pass from Tyler Morton released the right-back.  

Kostas Tsimikas then rattled the crossbar with a deep cross and the ball fell to Williams, whose blocked shot sat up nicely for Origi to steer in a spectacular late second. 
 

What does it mean? Differing displays for full debutants  

Klopp handed a first senior appearance to Harvey Blair and a full debut to Morton as he made 11 changes from the 5-0 mauling of Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend.  

Blair was extremely quiet in the front three, getting just nine touches of the ball before making way for Conor Bradley in the 55th minute.  

Morton, meanwhile, looked at home in the centre of midfield, spraying some lovely passes around – one of which was key to Minamino's goal. 

Wonderful Williams 

Making his first start since March having struggled with an ankle injury, Williams proved a difference-maker for the Reds. He made a crucial goal-line block in the first half and played a pivotal role in both Liverpool goals, though he was unable to take a late chance to get on the scoresheet himself. 

Mixed bag for Van den Berg 

Sepp van den Berg may be on loan at Preston from Liverpool, but he started in defence for the hosts and had a mixed outing. He gained possession 10 times, made four interceptions and two blocks – all of which were the most by a Preston player – but no other outfield team-mate gave the ball away more than him (13). 

What's next?  

Liverpool host Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, with Preston entertaining Luton Town in the Championship on the same day. 

Liverpool assistant head coach Pep Lijnders has described Liverpool's attackers as being "like raptors from Jurassic Park" after the 5-0 hammering of Manchester United.

The Reds have been potent this season, their tally of 41 goals in all competitions bettered only by Bayern Munich (60) among teams from Europe's top five leagues.

Mohamed Salah has been responsible for 15 of those goals, making him the second-highest goalscorer among Europe's elite this season behind Robert Lewandowski (17).

Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have six each, while, and Diogo Jota – who scored against United on Sunday – has four to his name.

Each of Liverpool's forwards have been in fantastic form and Lijnders puts that down to Jurgen Klopp's men going back to basics.

"I think it has to do with the way we are playing," he said during a news conference on Tuesday previewing the midweek EFL Cup last-16 tie with Preston North End. 

"It's the whole package that means our front players get into good positions. The front three look like raptors in Jurassic Park! 

"We haven't changed anything. Sometimes improving is going back to basics. Players needed a break after a few intense and emotional seasons."

With his hat-trick at Old Trafford, Salah has now scored in a club-record 10 successive matches for Liverpool in all competitions.

The Egypt international, who surpassed Didier Drogba (104) as the highest-scoring African in Premier League history with 106 goals, is expected to be rested against Preston.

Takumi Minamino scored twice and Divock Origi was on target as Liverpool swept aside Norwich City 3-0 in the last round and both players are in line to start again at Deepdale on Wednesday.

"We are used to making changes," Lijnders said. "We have to do things the right way by training and recovering correctly. 

"That's what I like about us – we prepare at the same level no matter who the opponent. We have to show our fans that same hunger and desire.

"Origi is the top scorer in this competition. He is a world-class finisher and is looking sharp, as is Minamino. Last season went to show that we need all of our players.

"They all have to show the right mentality and be ready. They have to stay patient and keep training hard."

Lijnders confirmed James Milner will miss Liverpool's next four matches ahead of the international break with a hamstring injury sustained in the win at Old Trafford.

Naby Keita also came off in that game following a strong challenge from Paul Pogba, who was shown a red card, but Liverpool's assistant was able to provide a more positive update on the midfielder.

"Naby has a bruise in this moment, which we are assessing day by day," Lijnders said.

"Thankfully his leg wasn't planted, but it's still a painful one. It's looking good. Fabinho will also be monitored daily and may return next weekend."

Liverpool travel to Preston aiming to keep alive their good record against lower-league opposition in the EFL Cup, having progressed from 16 of their past 17 such ties.

"Our priority is to put on a good display," Lijnders added. "That is the case from the start of the season until the end.

"Our game needs freshness and we want the opponents to feel our attack. The only way we will be able to properly press is to rotate.

"We are taking it game by game and are hoping to maintain our consistency."