Republic of Ireland international Troy Parrott marked his first start for Preston since September with an 81st-minute penalty to earn his team an unlikely 1-1 draw against Championship play-off hopefuls Luton.
The on-loan Tottenham striker had managed two goals in 18 appearances coming into the game, but his late strike, blasted high into the net from 12 yards, earned the 10 men a share of the spoils.
The visitors were in control for long periods against a Preston side low on confidence and on a run of five straight home defeats before Wednesday.
Preston's task grew in size when Ben Whiteman was dismissed for a crude tackle on Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu five minutes after half-time.
Luton finally scored the goal to reflect their dominance when Carlton Morris met Amari'i Bell's deep delivery to head home his 12th league goal of the campaign.
Jordan Clark shot narrowly wide as Luton sought to press home their man advantage, but Tom Lockyer was penalised for handling Parrott's drive following a rare Preston advance.
He dusted himself down to secure a draw.
Greg Cunningham and Alan Browne also started for Preston.
Jayson Molumby was denied being the West Brom match-winner as Ben Brereton Diaz scored a late equaliser for Blackburn Rovers.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder came off the bench to nod his team in front in the 73rd minute, but Diaz converted a free-kick at the death to ensure Rovers left the Hawthorns with a point.
Dara O'Shea captained the Baggies from centre-half.
Blackpool remain at the bottom of the table as Mick McCarthy's strugglers lost 2-1 away to Swansea.
The Tangerines had given themselves reason for optimism after grinding out back-to-back draws following three successive defeats, but finished the game with 10 men and nothing to show for their efforts.
Ryan Manning started for Swansea, as Matty Sorinola scored their first and created their winner as they nervously overcame a resilient Blackpool.
The visitors, who had CJ Hamilton and Andy Lyons in their starting XI, managed to level through Sonny Carey despite losing Charlie Patino to a second yellow card in the 57th minute.
Swansea move up to 12th - five points adrift of the play-offs - but they were clinging on at the end as Carey struck the post.
Blackpool have not won in the league since 29 October and they have 15 games left to pull themselves clear.
But McCarthy insisted: "The lads all care. We had our chances so I'm disappointed with losing here.
"We are bottom of the league, but there is no point in being miserable about it. We have got to keep looking up."
Middlesbrough came back from a goal down to win 3-1 at promotion rivals Sheffield United and reduce the gap between the two teams to seven points in the Championship.
Oli McBurnie gave second-placed United an early lead, but the visitors hit back to level through Chuba Akpom before Cameron Archer scored twice to give Michael Carrick's side a fourth straight league win.
John Egan captained the Blades, while Ciarán Clark was an unused sub, with Darragh Lenihan manning the defence for Boro.
An evergreen Phil Jagielka marked his 600th league start with a goal as Stoke comfortably defeated Huddersfield 3-0 in the Championship.
The 40-year-old haunted his former Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock, who is set to take over in the Terriers' hotseat on Thursday upon his return to the country.
The visitors came close to a leveller before the interval when Tom Lees' effort struck the crossbar, but Will Boyle's second-half sending off disrupted their momentum.
Any chance of a comeback was distinguished when Jacob Brown doubled Stoke's lead before substitute Lewis Baker added a late third from the penalty spot.
Will Smallbone started in midfield for the Potters.
Ashley Fletcher secured a point for Wigan as Shaun Maloney's impressive start as manager continued with a 1-1 draw at Bristol City.
The in-form hosts took a 36th-minute lead when centre-back Rob Atkinson got forward to powerfully head home a left-wing cross from midfielder Anis Mehmeti, making his first start since signing from Wycombe.
But Wigan hit back on 65 minutes, Fletcher finding himself unmarked in the centre of goal six yards out with time to control a Max Power cross from the right and slide his shot under the diving Max O'Leary, who has been called into Republic of Ireland squads without earning a cap.
It's now a win and two draws for the Latics under Maloney. The result extended City's unbeaten run to 10 games, but they had to settle for a point after hitting the woodwork twice in the second half.
Mark Sykes, the first Belfast–born player to represent the Republic of Ireland since 1946 when he came on against Malta last October, was a second-half substitute for Bristol, while James McClean played the full 90 minutes for Wigan with Will Keane a half-time substitute.
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