Tom Barkhuizen heroically salvaged Preston North End a point against Derby County on Tuesday evening, after securing a last gasp 1-1 draw in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Derby and Preston both missed the chance to narrow the gap on the Championship play-off places, after sixth placed side Sheffield Wednesday failed to win at home to Burton Albion.

Steve McClaren’s side thought that they had sealed a victory courtesy of Matej Vydra’s goal, early on in the second-half.

However, the Lilywhites equalised in the fifth minute of stoppage time with Barkhuizen stabbing in an equaliser, to break the hearts of The Rams and their fans.

The result for Preston meant that they have not won in their last two matches. Meanwhile the Rams’ poor form continues, the draw means that they have only picked up one victory in their last eight league outings.

Shoot! looks at the five major talking points from Tuesday’s game at Pride Park…

Rams out of form

Derby were on the verge of picking up back-to-back league victories for the first time since January, however, Barkhuizen’s late leveller added more misery to McClaren (Pictured) and his side.

The Rams’ win last Saturday was the only match that they have picked up maximum points in their last nine outings.

Derby are now 10 points adrift of the play-off places and they currently sit 10th place in the Championship table.

Unless they return to winning ways immediately, The Rams’ promotion chase is all but over.

Lilywhites in a muddy patch

Simon Grayson’s men may have rescued a point on Tuesday, but like their opponents, their chances of promotion are all but over.

Preston have only won once in their last four matches, a run which has included a 0-0 stalemate against relegation threatened side Wigan Athletic.

The Lilywhites are both a point and a league place ahead of Derby, but there is a nine-point gap behind the top six means that if they are to push on for a last gasp play-off spot, they must win the vast majority of their remaining 10 matches.

No ‘Pride’ at the ‘Park’

The draw at Pride Park meant that Derby have not lost at home in the league to Preston since September 2002 – a record spanning over 14 years.

Preston have won at Pride Park in that time, however their 4-1 victory in January 2008 was a FA Cup fourth round tie.

The fact that Preston cannot win at Derby may be the reason why they struggled on Tuesday night, a record they will want to rewrite at the earliest possible opportunity.

Preston’s right-back problem

The Lilywhites have suffered an injury crisis at right-back. For their game on Tuesday, they were without all four of their recognised right-backs.

Everton loanee Tyias Browning, Alex Baptiste, Calum Woods and Marnick Vermijl are all currently sidelined, meaning that club captain and natural centre-back Tom Clarke, was forced to play on the right against Derby.

Manager Grayson said that his full-back crisis is not likely to have been fixed before their match against Reading on Saturday.

Vydra struggles out wide

Matej Vydra was the goalscorer for Derby during Tuesday night’s clash against Preston.

The Czech forward has started The Rams’ last two matches on the left side, but despite scoring the goal on Tuesday, he appeared to struggle on the left flank against the Lilywhites.