A superb last-minute equaliser from Milli Alli earned the Town a crucial point in their fight for Championship survival as they fought back to earn a draw at Stoke.

It seemed the Hatters would be on the wrong end of a defeat against a side also battling the drop after Lewis Baker’s heavily deflected free-kick gave the Potters the lead on 74 minutes.

But Town heads never dropped and Alli, who was a constant threat all evening, found the target with a swerving shot after fine footwork in the penalty area to bring the Hatters level and rescue a deserved point.

Defeat certainly would have been harsh on the Town who remain two points from safety ahead of Saturday’s game at Blackburn at Kenilworth Road.

Goal hero Alli’s evening began on the bench until he was introduced in the 17th minute after former Potter Alfie Doughty was substituted after picking up a knock following an altercation with Ben Wilmot.

Chances for both sides were at a premium in an extremely low-key first half that saw Thelo Aasgaard off-target with a well-hit volley five minutes before the break.

Having been booked in the first half Carlton Morris found himself walking the disciplinary tightrope and, 10 seconds into the second half, the hosts were baying for the captain to be shown a second yellow card after colliding with Junior Tchamadeu immediately after the restart.

As clear-cut opportunities continued to be hard to come by, Alli had his first sight of goal on 53 minutes when weaving into the box down the left and firing a shot at goal that Wilmot deflected behind. From the corner, Mark McGuinness nodded wide as the Town continued to push for an opener.

Jordan Clark attempted to catch goalkeeper Viktor Johansson out with a quick free-kick from distance on 57 minutes before it was Stoke’s turn to press. On the hour Thomas Kaminski held a Wilmot header before Sam Gallagher slid a chance wide for the hosts moments later.

Baker tested Kaminski with a pot-shot from distance on 66 minutes with the Town goalkeeper doing well to get his body behind the bouncing ball.

With both teams in need of the points, the game began to swing from end to end and on 69 minutes the Town failed to get the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble that saw Morris and Alli head goalwards.

Matt Bloomfield made a triple change with 20 minutes left to play, introducing Reece Burke, Lasse Nordås and Lamine Fanne – but with minutes of their arrival the Town fell behind in unfortunate circumstances.

Fanne was harshly adjudged to have fouled Gallagher on the edge of the box and Baker arrowed the resultant free-kick from 25 yards goalwards. The ball clipped off the head of Burke, wrong-footing Kaminski.

It was harsh on the Town but Bloomfield’s troops rallied.

Alli came close to levelling with seven minutes left after dancing into the box but his low rasping drive was kept out well by Johansson.

Still the Town pushed. Stoke survived another goalmouth scramble on 85 minutes with substitute Josh Bowler unable to sort his feet out with the goal gaping.

But as time ticked into the first minute of five added, the Hatters got their just reward through Alli. Clark’s attempted bicycle kick fell at the feet of the former Exeter man and the January arrival wriggled into the box and thundered a left-foot shot past Johansson at his near post for his first goal in Luton colours.

As play restarted there was still time for the Town to push as they sensed a winner. McGuinness got his head on a left-wing cross to test Johansson but the final whistle to ensure both sides shared the spoils.

It’s a fifth game unbeaten for the Hatters who remain two points from safety after results elsewhere.

On Saturday Blackburn are in town.

We’ll see you then. UTT.

Town: Kaminski; Jones, Doughty (sub Alli 17), Makosso (sub Burke 70), McGuinness, Bell; Walsh (sub Fanne 70), Clark; Aasgaard, Chong (sub Bowler 82), Morris (sub Nordås 70).

Subs not used: Krul, Naismith, Mengi, Nelson.

Attendance: 21,226, including 1,191 in the away end cheering for the Town.