Round up: Jerome helps Blues escape from Burnley unscathed

(PA)

Even the most well-planned of road trips can go awry as two of the Championship's top three, Birmingham City and Reading, discovered on their travels to the North-west.

At Burnley, the Clarets' Chris McCann stormed in at the far post after 25 minutes to head in Martin Paterson's cross and set Brum a real test. Anddespite being second-best for much of the match, the Blues preserved their unbeaten away record when substitute James McFadden's shot was parried by Brian Jensen, and another substitute, Cameron Jerome, toe-poked in the equaliser. Birmingham slipped to second.

"It was a tough game, we gained a point in a difficult venue," their manager Alex McLeish admitted, "and, as you can see from thePreston result, reality bites in the Championship."

The result he was referring to saw Reading lose 2-1 at Preston North End despite taking the lead through Stephen Hunt's 27th-minute penalty. But a long ball into the visitors' penalty area saw Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann collide with his defender Ivar Ingimarsson and the ball bounce off the latter into his own net. Stephen Elliott grabbed North End's 81st-minute winner as they moved up to seventh place.

"A farce," Reading manager Steve Coppell said of Preston's equaliser, "but it gave them a massive incentive and drive. We have no excuses other than our own frailty."

Ninian Park proved an inhospitable place to Charlton Athletic who had Jose Vitor Semedo (51 minutes) and captain Mark Hudson (67) sent off and saw Ross McCormack take his tally to nine with goals in the eighth and 52nd minutes as Cardiff City won 2-0 to move up to fourth. "We will keep working Ross hard," Dave Jones, the Bluebirds manager, said. "He took his first goal well and his second was deserved. We have not seen the best of him yet," he added ominously.

Just across the Severn, Bristol City recovered from their blip in form to beat Norwich City 1-0, Jamie McCombe's winner coming in the 75th minute. The Canaries, of course, are subject to a match-fixing inquiry triggered by betting patterns in the Far East and the other side implicated in that investigation, Derby County, have recovered from relegation and a jittery start to climb to ninth after yesterday's 2-1 home defeat of Plymouth Argyle, Rob Hulse and Paul Green scoring after Paul Gallagher had put Argyle ahead.

"I'm not going to make predictions but I do know that we will get better and as far as teamwork and resilience is concerned. We are hard to beat now," the Rams manager Paul Jewell said.

Swansea City took a point at Ipswich in a 2-2 draw, Pablo Counago scoring both goals for the hosts. At the bottom, there was no respite for Nottingham Forest who lost 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers, Iain Dowie's side moving up to sixth. Doncaster drew 0-0 at home with Blackpool, while the Watford goalkeeper Richard Lee saved first-half penalties at Southampton from David McGoldrick and Paul Wotton, and then saw his own striker Tamas Priskin score twice as the Hornets won 3-0. And Ben Watson scored twice as Crystal Palace beat Barnsley 3-0.