Roy Keane was left to rue missed chances as Newcastle hit back to extend Sunderland's search for a derby win at home.

The Irishman saw his side take a deserved lead through Danny Higginbotham's first goal for the club after passing up a series of earlier opportunities, and was off his seat as former Magpie Michael Chopra powered a header against the crossbar with eight minutes remaining.

However, by then James Milner had levelled when his 65th-minute cross crept inside Craig Gordon's far post to punish the Wearsiders for their profligacy.

Keane admitted his disappointment at only drawing a game he felt they had done enough to win, but refused to bemoan his luck.

Asked if he was disappointed not to have taken all three points, Keane said: "Yes, if you look at the chances and the way we played, but if we keep missing the chances we did, it is very hard to win any game.

"If you look at the chances and the performance, I think Sam (Allardyce) will probably be slightly happier than me tonight.

"But I am pleased with the performance and the attitude of the players and the spirit with which they played.

"The priority for any derby match is certainly don't lose it, and we did not do that, so we will take the pluses."

Sunderland went into the 127th league derby between the two clubs having lost the last five and without a home win in the fixture since April 1980, and for long periods looked like resolving both issues.

Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper had to make a smart save to cut out Ian Harte's shot and Alan Smith cleared Grant Leadbitter's goalbound follow-up before Chopra forced a save with a well-struck shot from distance a minute before the break.

The deadlock was finally broken seven minutes after the restart when, after Abdoulaye Faye had needlessly forced central defensive partner David Rozehnal to concede a corner, the Magpies compounded the error by going to sleep at the set-piece.

Leadbitter took full advantage to curl a cross to the far post where Higginbotham timed his run to perfection to head past the stranded Harper.

The lead was deserved but it also served to spur the visitors into action and they were back on terms within 13 minutes when Milner exchanged passes with Joey Barton and drifted the ball across the static Craig Gordon and just inside the far post.

In a frenetic finale, Chopra came closest to snatching victory when he headed Harte's corner against the bar, but there was to be no more of the late drama which has so often lit up the Stadium if Light this season.

Newcastle boss Allardyce was delighted to end a run of two successive defeats and a three-game wait for a point on the road.

He said: "I am not bothered whether we were fortunate or not. You just don't lose a derby and we haven't, which is very, very important indeed.

"Under the circumstances when our away form in our last two games was very poor, it was important to put that right, and we had to put it right in a game like this which we could not afford to lose.

"We came back from a goal down as well, which is the first time we have got back into a game from a goal down and got something out of the game away from home this season."

A competitive encounter almost boiled over just before the break when Joey Barton and Dickson Etuhu clashed after a late challenge by the Newcastle man, although Keane was unconcerned.

He said: "I am not going to get bogged down by a tackle that was slightly high. That happens in these games, a lot of them are mistimed.

"You give and you take. Dickson is a tough lad. He is alive in that dressing room, he won't be leaving on a stretcher."