Preston substitute Neil Mellor came off the bench to score a brilliant late equaliser as Norwich lost their grip in the final stages of an entertaining encounter.

A couple of minutes after being reduced to 10 men by Darea Russell’s soft dismissal the Canaries let two precious points slip through their grasp as Mellor latched onto Richard Chaplow’s precise pass to blast home an unstoppable shot from just outside the area.

Norwich had appeared to be coasting towards victory with a little over 10 minutes left as they led 2-1, with Preston rarely threatening to get back into the game which they had led after less than two minutes.

But everything changed when Russell pushed Preston’s Ross Wallate in the face as he was prevented from taking a quick free-kick.

It was no more than a powder puff touch yet referee Paul Taylor decided it was worthy of a straight red card and it was a blow from which the home side never really recovered.

In the end they had to settle for just a single point after two depressing away defeats, not the ideal preparation for an annual meeting on Tuesday night - while the visitors had the consolation of a hard-earned point after four successive away reverses.

The game could hardly have got off to a worse start for the Canaries, who lost a goal and a key player in the first seven minutes.

Preston went ahead from their very first attack when Norwich old boy Chris Brown blasted home from just outside the six yard box after John Otsemobor had hooked his own goal-bound deflection off the line.

Things then went from bad to worse when Dejan Stefanovich was forced off with a knee injury but, to their credit, Glenn Roeder’s side refused to feel sorry for themselves and dominated the remainder of the half.

They got back on level terms on 14 minutes when Leroy Lita nodded home a left wing corner from the excellent David Bell Keeper David Lonergan was nowhere to be seen when that one went in but was perfectly placed to deny Lita a second after more good work by Bell.

Norwich went desperately close again on the half hour mark when a superb interchange between Bell and Ryan Bertrand ended with the on loan Chelsea man firing a rising drive against the crossbar, with Lee Croft carelessly shooting wide from the rebound.

The second half was more evenly matched but it was the Canaries who got their noses in front on 62 minutes when defender John Kennedy got his outstretched boot to an in-swinging Bell free-kick at the back post.

Norwich should really have gone on to win it from there but Mr Taylor’s decision to dismiss Russell for the second time this year, the midfielder also saw red at Coventry, changed the balance of the game and in the end the hosts were grateful for a point as Chris Sedgwick and Chris Brown both went close to a winner in the closing stages.