Preston North End 2-1 Reading: Hosts score last-gasp winner in Championship
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Brad Potts' 92nd-minute winner gave Preston North End a fifth win in six matches as they edged past relegation-threatened Reading
Brad Potts' last-gasp winner at Deepdale moved Preston North End up to seventh in the Championship and kept Reading in the relegation zone.
Potts guided in a header shortly after being denied by a brilliant save from Reading goalkeeper Joe Lumley to keep out his strike moments earlier.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan looked to have earned the Royals a potentially crucial point when the forward's header looped into the far corner with seven minutes remaining.
On-loan Everton striker Tom Cannon, who scored both of Preston's goals in their 2-0 win at Queens Park Rangers on Friday, had calmly made the second-half breakthrough for the hosts after an enterprising run and pass from Alvaro Fernandez.
The win moved Preston level on points with fifth-placed Millwall and Blackburn Rovers in sixth, who stay above them on goal difference.
In-form North End began their third successive victory by showing characteristic dominance in possession during a first half devoid of shots on target.
Potts sent a header into the side-netting from a perceptive Andrew Hughes cross early on as Reading struggled to keep Preston from creating chances.
Cannon could have scored sooner, sending a menacing strike marginally wide of a post at the end of a silky North End attacking move.
The Toffees youth product was thwarted by another alert Lumley save when he broke clear and saw his finish diverted behind.
Blackburn have a game in hand on Preston, who join Reading in having five remaining matches to play. Paul Ince's side are a point behind fourth-bottom Cardiff City, who lost at home to Sunderland but have a game more to play.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I told the lads at half-time that, if you want a chance to get to 62 points and kick on, you've got to give a little bit more. We worked our socks off and moved the ball well but it was just that clinical edge, which we got in the second half.
"Potts was brave. He was fantastic today in every way, along with the rest of them. I said to Tom Cannon at half-time to keep patient. The calmness of his finish was brilliant.
"Whichever way you win at this stage of the season doesn't really matter. We've given ourselves a very good chance of trying to get in the play-offs. We've been setting targets every three games and we'll do the same on Thursday. If we can achieve them, it will be amazing - it won't be for the lack of trying."
Reading boss Paul Ince told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"It's a lack of concentration and it's not the first time, whether it's lack of quality, focus, or resilience. We get the ball in midfield and we're trying to run with it instead of passing it out. A ball comes in, we panic, slice at it and it goes for a corner. We don't win the first or second header.
"We did so well to get back into the game. It's great that Kelvin, as a young kid, has got the equaliser - that's the only positive to come out of it. We lacked the quality and mental toughness to hold onto it.
"We lack the character to see out games. I said to them, 'if I'd have been playing in this team, I'd have been right on it and you wouldn't have got away with some of the things you do.' We all make mistakes but the decision-making can't always come from me."