Burnley's play off hopes suffered a hammer blow as North End won a typically feisty Lancashire derby.
Chris Brown poked home a fortuitous second half winner after James O'Connor had cancelled out Tamas Priskin's early strike.
And the Deepdale defeat, which ended with Burnley down to 10 men following the stoppage time dismissal of Clarke Carlisle, left the Clarets' hopes of making the top six hanging by a thread.
Owen Coyle handed a recall to Brian Jensen, while David Unsworth replaced the injured Stanislav Varga in defence.
In midfield, Chris McCann recovered from his groin injury to start, but Andrew Cole was only on the bench following Achilles trouble.
But just five minutes in disaster struck after Preston came out of their own half for the first time.
Simon Whaley's aimless left wing cross was hurriedly half cleared by David Unsworth straight to Priskin, who coolly bent the ball around Brian Jensen to open the scoring.
Chris Brown's header then forced Jensen into another save as the Clarets defence began the game at sixes and sevens.
The one way traffic continued and Priskin should have doubled his tally in the 11th minute.
A simple ball over the top caught Burnley cold, but Jensen stuck out a boot to deny the Hungarian and watched as Brown fired woefully wide from the follow up.
Alexander puts the boot in on Whaley
The Clarets could easily have been out of sight, but Robbie Blake should really have equalised in the 15th minute, spinning his man in the box but blazing over with just Andy Lonergan to beat.
A great passing move from Burnley carved North End open again midway through the half, but this time from Jon Harley's deep cross, Wade Elliott's shot was blocked by Lonergan.
And almost immediately on another lightening break, Blake forced a fine tip over from the goalkeeper with a rising drive.
Burnley were now controlling the midfield, but yet another simple ball over the top on the half hour caught them napping.
Priskin raced through and had all day to pick his spot, but Jensen made another fantastic save to parry his effort round the post.
Within seconds, it was North End who had a let off when Lonergan inexplicably punched Jensen's long kick straight to Elliott and could only watch as the Clarets winger volleyed it back over his head and inches wide of the gaping goal.
But the reprieve was short lived and in the 36th minute, the equalising goal deservedly arrived.
Preston could only half clear a corner straight to O'Connor, whose well hit shot fizzed through a ruck of players and squirmed through the fingers of Lonergan.
That was the last action of a breathless half that Burnley, in the ascendancy, would not have wanted to end.
Skipper Steven Caldwell replaced Unsworth at the break and Burnley went straight back on the attack.
Two corners were forced before Blake teed-up McCann for a scuffed drive from the edge of the area that bobbled wide.
But North End regained the lead eight minutes into the half in disastrous fashion.
Jensen's poor punch from a corner landed in a mass of bodies and in the ensuing scramble, Brown somehow prodded the ball home from six yards.
That hammer blow rocked the Clarets back on their heels and with a quarter of the game remaining, Cole replaced a limping Lafferty.
Joey Gudjonsson was also introduced for O'Connor As Owen Coyle sought the lifeline.
But the game had now degenerated into a midfield scrap, with neither side creating any clear cut chances.
And as it petered out, with Clarke Carlisle receivinghis marching orders in stoppage time for a desperate lunge, perhaps so did the dream!
Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Unsworth (Caldwell 46), Carlisle, Harley, Elliott, McCann, J O'Connor (Gudjonsson 73), Lafferty (Cole 67), Blake, Akinbiyi.
Subs: Kiraly, Mahon
Booked: Alexander 24, J O'Connor 30, Blake 90
Sent off: Carlisle 90
Preston: Lonergan, Davidson, Mawene, Sedgwick, Brown, Carter, St Ledger, Whaley, McKenna, Jones, Priskin (Mellor 70)
Subs: Chaplow, Hill, L Neal, C Neal
Booked: Mawene 39
Subs: U Rennie
