Preston left it late to secured a place in the second round of the EFL Cup as Eoin Doyle's stoppage-time goal sunk valiant Hartlepool in a 1-0 victory at Deepdale.

Amid a frantic ending, the game looked destined for extra-time until Doyle poked home to send the Sky Bet Championship side through.

It was 22 minutes before either goalkeeper had a shot to save, when a steered volley from North End midfielder Ben Pringle was comfortable for Pools' keeper Adam Bartlett before Joe Garner smashed an angled volley in from a deep free-kick, but his joy soon curtailed by an offside flag.

League Two Hartlepool started the second-half brightly, and some neat play on the edge of the North End area brought a free-kick curled over by midfielder Nicky Deverdics.

Then from a quick break, Josh Laurent had a sight of goal, but his early volley was too comfortable for keeper Anders Lindegaard.

Striker Lewis Alessandra did find the net for the visitors, skirting around Lindegaard only to see the effort ruled out for offside.

Alessandra then spectacularly cleared off his own line to deny a goal-bound header from Paul Huntingdon, while Bartlett made a fine stop to deny Doyle from close range.

But in injury time, the home side snatched victory.

A swift counter-attack from substitute Chris Humphrey saw his low cross turned in from close range by Doyle, with virtually the last kick of the game sending North End through.