Preston North End head into half time with a 1-0 lead over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Deepdale, but they will have to play the remainder of the match with 10 men after losing Joe Garner to a red card.
Both sides started the match slowly, but Wolves made an early statement of intent when Scott Golbourne found his way to the byline and swung a cross into the box, but there were no gold shirts in position to meet it.
It was Preston who broke the deadlock, snatching the lead with 10 minutes on the clock when Daniel Johnson found room to shoot on the edge of the area and tucked one into the far corner.
The hosts pressed for a second, with Adam Reach and Garner both coming close, before Rajiv van La Parra fired just over at the other end of the park.
Preston were reduced to 10 men in the 19th minute when Garner was shown a straight red card for serious foul play, going in on returning Wolves skipper Danny Batth with a high boot.
Wolves looked to press their numerical advantage and staged several attacks before half time, but Preston defended tightly and maintained their half-time advantage.
Mark Langshaw
