DAVID Moyes heaped praise on young midfielder Michael Keane after his one man show saved Preston a point.

The Irish midfielder - just 18-years-old - put in the best possible performance during his first full debut at Deepdale against Wimbledon on Monday.

It won him a place in hearts of the Deepdale faithful - who saved their loudest chant of the day 'There's only one Keano' for him after his wonder strike - and should secure his place in the starting 11 when the league resumes in just under a fortnight.

Keane, who started away at Grimsby on the weekend too, turned two Wimbledon defenders before unleashing a powerful drive which left 'keeper Paul Heald playing with thin air.

His delight at scoring was all too obvious - how many players runs half way across the pitch to hug their manager?

And Moyes was full of praise for Keane, another success from the youth side: "Every manager wants a player with that kind of enthusiasm.

"He is a decent tackler with a heart like a lion. That's what will make him a player. Another Roy Keane? I hope so.

"We needed his goal."

Keane's effort, along with an appearance from Steve Basham for the first time in 11 months, put the shine on what had looked, at one point, to be a very poor bank holiday for North End.

North End's chances were few and far between in the first half, with Richard Creswell falling foul of a well-set off-side trap on several occasions.

Wimbledon were the better side and should have been 3-0 up by the time the first goal went in. Down to 10 men after Rob Gier went off the pitch for stitches, Joe McAnuff played the ball into the area, Deepdale debutante Chris Lucketti went to clear it but played it into the path of Neil Shipperly.

His 25 yard shot beat David Lucas, who had single-handedly kept North End in the game on several occasions.

After the equaliser, North End looked as though they could go on and win.

Indeed, a David Healy shot set up by Basham hit the back of the net but the linesman ruled handball - and once again North End were left with a draw.

They will now be sweating on the fitness of David Lucas, who seemed to collect a strain while going full-stretch to stop a Wimbledon shot. He was replaced by Tepi Moilanen at half time.

Moyes added: "Wimbledon were better and I was happy to get a point. They passed the way we want to, but we are down on numbers at the moment."

There isn't another league fixture for just under two weeks. The break couldn't come at a better time for North End, who are now have Kevin Gallacher, Ryan Kidd, Jon Macken, Paul McKenna and Rob Edwards injured.

Saturday's away trip to Sheffield Wednesday has been postponed due to four North End players receiving international call-ups.