Derby County 3-2 Reading
- Published
Tom Ince has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season
Tom Ince scored his ninth goal in 13 games to help Derby move to within two points of the top six after victory over fellow play-off hopefuls Reading.
John Swift put Reading ahead from close range before Darren Bent levelled with Derby's only effort before the break.
Ince, reportedly wanted by Newcastle, met a Craig Bryson pass to make it 2-1.
Will Hughes swept in a third as the Rams held on, with Yakou Meite pulling one back before Reading had Jordan Obita sent off for a second yellow.
Derby's win sees them move to seventh in the table, three points adrift of Reading in fifth, with sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday now just two points away after their 2-1 defeat by high-flyers Brighton on Friday.
Swift's goal in the 16th minute was the first conceded by Derby at Pride Park in nine matches, dating back 17 weeks to 24 September - a 2-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers when Nigel Pearson was still in charge of the Rams and they were in the relegation places.
Bent's awkward finish to level 10 minutes before the break was Derby's first goal in four league games, with Ince scoring his 10th goal of the season to put the improving Rams ahead after the break.
Hughes marked his 150th start for the club with his second goal of the season, pouncing on a loose ball in the box to finish, but Meite came off the bench to nod in Reading's second, setting up a dramatic finish which ended with Obita's red card six minutes into injury time.
Derby County manager Steve McClaren: "I couldn't stand watching that upstairs. We were allowing them to play and the only way I could do anything about it was to run up and down the line like a crazy man.
"The players responded and all credit to them for turning it around. They decided to join in the fight and we made it a bit feisty and lit a fire which we had to do.
"It was a big win, there was a lot of pressure on the team to deliver and find a way to win and the response was great from going a goal down."
Reading manager Jaap Stam: " I think we should have got something out of this game. If you look at the way we performed, we should have had at least a point.
"If you concede two easy goals, you make it difficult for yourself, the second goal you are taking a lot of risk in building up from the back.
"I think overall how we played, pressing the opposition, we played very well as a team and the mentality was very good even after the third goal."