Luton Town picked up their first away point in 12 Championship games on the road after a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Alife Doughty had put the Hatters in front at Hillsborough, with the home side’s Michael Smith equalising from the penalty spot.

A point in Sheffield was Luton’s first point away from home since their only away win of the campaign so far at Millwall in September, following a run of 11 consecutive away defeats in league outings.

A draw means the Hatters remain 23rd in the second tier table and they are still awaiting their first win since replacing Rob Edwards with Matt Bloomfield, although they do reduce the gap to safety to two points after Hull City lost at home to Stoke.

With Wednesday part of a cluster of sides immediately behind the play-off positions, Luton were in for a tricky encounter as they sought to get a win to kickstart their campaign.

But an even start saw the home side limited to half-chances, none of which they were able to convert or truly trouble Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

Instead, Luton began to offer more and moments after Jacob Brown headed over, they would score first. Carlton Morris was able to control the ball before feeding Doughty, who drilled a left-footed strike into the back of the home side’s net to give Luton the lead.

Sheffield Wednesday offered more after a double change at the half-time break, and after coming closer with a few opportunities, they found a penalty and with it an equaliser on the hour mark.

Djeidi Gassama was fouled in the box by Lamine Fanne after the Wednesday man’s run had got him into the box, and from 12 yards, Smith thumped the ball past Kaminski to bring the home side level.

From there, the Owls had plenty of chances to complete the comeback. Smith would fire straight at Kaminski, Josh Windass lashed the rebound into the stands, Kaminski had to deny Windass’ more accurate strike and Gassama had a strike blocked.

Luton came close to sneaking a goal of their own when Millenic Alli’s blocked shot fell kindly for fellow substitute debutant Josh Bowler, only for the latter to scuff his strike wide.

The Hatters nevertheless did enough to grind out a point, ending a run of consecutive defeats at venues other than Kenilworth Road.

Bloomfield’s quest for a first win in charge has a pair of difficult contests coming up, as Luton face games against promotion contenders Sunderland and Sheffield United in their next two outings.