Second-half substitute Milutin Osmajic rescued a draw for Preston to deny Ed Still victory in his first game as Watford's new head coach.

Watford scored twice in two second-half minutes through Othmane Maamma and an Odeluga Offiah own goal to turn the game on its head after Preston's Lewis Dobbin had opened the scoring.

Osmajic had only been on the pitch for seven minutes when he combined with debutant and fellow substitute Callum Lang to level for Preston who lost a little ground in the play-off places.

Still will be disappointed not to take all three points in his first match after a strong finish as the Hornets' winless run stretched to eight games.

Osmajic bagged his sixth goal in his first game back after his three-match ban for headbutting Hull's John Lundstram last month.

In all, the Montenegro striker has been banned for 20 games under boss Paul Heckingbottom, but he underlined his value to Preston with his 70th-minute equaliser.

Preston wanted a win to climb into the play-off places and instead remain seventh with just one win in their last six matches.

Watford remain 12th – three points outside the top six – and Still can take heart from his side's point at Deepdale.

Preston took advantage of some slack defending to open the scoring on 19 minutes when Imran Louza failed to track back and Benjamin Whiteman fired in a low cross for Dobbin to sidefoot home his eighth goal of the season at the far post.

The Hornets levelled on 55 minutes out of nowhere when Louza broke and fed Maamma, who cut inside and curled the ball into the far corner.

And two minutes later, they went ahead when Nampalys Mendy found Kwadwo Baah and his cross for Luca Kjerrumgaard went in off the unfortunate Offiah.

Heckingbottom made changes and two of his substitutes combined to haul them level on 70 minutes when Lang, signed for a club record fee from Portsmouth, played a fantastic ball into Osmajic, who buried his shot in the bottom left-hand corner.

Watford were denied a winner when Formose Mendy's left-foot volley came off the inside of the post.

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"You're frustrated when you don't win, but I also know we went behind to a dangerous team. As we were pushing, they were countering on us all the time, so for us to get back into the game and score that goal was good.

"They're a bit of an enigmatic team and enigmatic players and we gave them the encouragement in that five-minute spell when they scored and they came alive, they could show off. At that point, we showed real good character to get back in the game.

"I shouldn't really feel this flat, but for some reason I do, because I know it was a good game. I enjoyed the effort, the spirit and moments and spells in the game, how well we played, but I'm just frustrated."

Watford head coach Ed Still told BBC Radio Three Counties:

"The first half wasn't so bad, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. It's a shame that we did have that one moment where we switched off. Apart from that, they [Preston] didn't have much.

"We conceded a goal from a throw-in where we're not quite sharp enough in the box and the second goal, there is a transition where we had an overload on the midline and we can manage that better as well.

"I really hope the team has felt and taken a lot of confidence from the second half, the speed and tempo that we put in the game. We put them under a lot of pressure and created enough chances to win.

"In the end, it's a good point, but I'm disappointed for the dressing room that they didn't get more."