Championship roundup: Reading stumble again, Watford end winless run

London, Nov 4, 2020 (AFP) - Reading missed the chance to open up a commanding lead at the top of the Championship after a 3-0 defeat to Preston on Wednesday as Watford returned to winning ways.

Veljko Paunovic's side remain three points clear of Swansea after their second consecutive defeat.

Two goals in a four-minute spell in the second half, from Scott Sinclair and Emil Riis Jakobsen, put the visitors in control and they added a third goal through Brad Potts in stoppage time.

Reading won seven of their opening eight league matches but lost their unbeaten record in a 3-2 defeat away to Coventry on Friday.

"When you lose a game, you have to absorb it," said Paunovic. "That's what I told the players.

"You have to quickly bounce back and convert the pain into a positive energy for the next game."

Ismaila Sarr scored a stoppage-time winner as Watford beat Stoke 3-2 to win for the first time in four league games.

Steven Fletcher's early opener for Stoke was cancelled out by Tom Cleverley before Joao Pedro gave Watford the lead from the penalty spot.

Nick Powell looked as though he had rescued a draw for Stoke but Sarr sealed the three points for Watford three minutes into added time.

Elsewhere, Wycombe beat Birmingham 2-1 and QPR edged past Derby 1-0.

Lyle Taylor's 97th-minute penalty earned Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win at home to Coventry while Luton beat Rotherham 1-0.

Earlier, the English Football League announced that Sheffield Wednesday's points deduction had been reduced from 12 to six.

The Championship club were hit with the 12-point deduction for the 2020/21 season in July over breaches of financial rules.

Wednesday lodged an appeal to a league arbitration panel, and while it did not agree with their claim that a points deduction should not have been imposed, the punishment has been halved.

It means Garry Monk's bottom-placed team, who beat Bournemouth 1-0 at home on Tuesday, are now on five points rather than minus one.