Reading 1-0 Blackburn Rovers: Josh Laurent's strike earns vital win for Royals
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Josh Laurent's 78th-minute strike earned Reading an important victory in their battle against relegation
Reading moved five points clear of the relegation zone as Josh Laurent's strike 12 minutes from time handed them a vital victory over promotion-chasing Blackburn.
Laurent curled a shot past goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski when the ball came back to him after Blackburn had cut out John Swift's low cross.
The Royals missed a host of chances in the first half and were indebted to goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who made a string of fine saves after the break.
A first win in five games gives Paul Ince's men a boost in their relegation battle, while dealing a blow to Blackburn's automatic promotion hopes.
The Royals took full advantage of Barnsley's defeat at Sheffield United to move further away from danger, but Tony Mowbray's Blackburn drop to sixth and have now failed to win, or score, in their last seven away league games.
Sam Gallagher sent an early header wide for the visitors before Reading had the clearest opening of the opening 15 minutes when Kaminski was forced into a fine save from Tom Ince's close-range effort.
Reading tested Kaminski twice again either side of the half-hour mark when the Belgian first denied Andy Yiadom at the near post before pushing away Lucas Joao's goalbound header.
Laurent was next to be frustrated as the Rovers stopper tipped his effort over the bar five minutes before the break as Reading ended the first half on top but with nothing to show for their endeavours.
Blackburn improved in the second half but Tyrhys Dolan and Gallagher were both guilty of spurning good chances inside the opening five minutes.
They were turning up the pressure on the Royals, with John Buckley and Daragh Lenihan forcing Nyland into fine stops just short of the hour.
Tony Mowbray introduced Bradley Dack for the closing stages and the striker was straight into the action but again Nyland was there to save from point-blank range, with Gallagher slipping as he looked odds-on to convert the rebound, allowing Reading to clear.
The hosts made Blackburn pay for their profligacy, taking the lead after 78 minutes when Swift's cross was not fully cleared, allowing Laurent to run onto the ball and grab the goal that secured three vital points.
Reading interim boss Paul Ince told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"It was probably the perfect performance, apart from the chances missed in the first half, we should have been 3-0 up at half-time.
"We need to be more ruthless, which makes it an easier day for the old ticker, but we kept a clean sheet and we got a wonder goal from Josh.
"Looking at the results from the 12.30 kick-offs for Derby and Barnsley, we knew what we had to do against a good side going for the play-offs, so to get that result is important.
"The lads have an incredible spirit. We've had a tough week, going to Forest and Bournemouth, two top teams, and we've had illnesses, so they've put in a really good shift over this week."
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"We started pretty dominantly in the first twenty minutes, half-an-hour. They ground their way back into the game and had some efforts towards the end of the first half.
"I thought we started the second half positively, missed a few good opportunities. I thought we were in the game but it's a poor clearance and a good finish from the kid in the top corner.
"We've generally been pretty solid and don't give much away but we're just not scoring goals and every game we've had good opportunities.
"If you get the first goal we can go onto win 1-0 but we concede and go on to lose 1-0. It was a tight game. You can't win football matches if you don't score goals."