OLA John struck a late leveller as Reading FC were held to a 2-2 home draw by Huddersfield Town.

For the second time in a matter of days, Royals looked to be heading for defeat until a dramatic finish saw them salvage a draw.

On Saturday it was Matej Vydra who got Royals out of trouble with his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw with Championship leaders Brighton.

And on Tuesday night it was John who came to the rescue with a superb finish in the 84th minute.

It was also the Dutchman's first goal for the Royals and it certainly saved boss Steve Clarke's blushes after watching his side labour against a Terriers team who played far better than their league position suggests.

Nevertheless, Royals have not won in the league for four matches and have taken a mere three points from the last 12 on offer.

Reading were strong favourites to knock over a Terriers side who started in 16th place and had won only once on their travels this season when they beat Charlton away in September.

Clarke made three changes to the side that held Brighton as Anton Ferdinand returned to the starting line-up after a six-week injury lay-off.

He replaced Michael Hector in the middle of defence, with Hector not even on the bench, presumably after picking up a knock against the Seagulls.

Lucas Piazon also got the nod up front instead of Orlando Sa, while Jordan Obita returned at left-back in place of Andrew Taylor.

Sadly, it was Obita's mistake in midfield which contributed to Huddersfield's opening goal after just 64 seconds.

His attempted pass to Ferdinand was easily cut out and Wells slid the ball into the path of Paterson, who fired across Ali Al Habsi and into the far corner.

It was a fine finish from Paterson, but Reading's defence had parted like the Red Sea in the build-up.

However, it almost got worse less than four minutes later when Paterson again wriggled free in the box and only a fine save Al Habsi low to his left prevented Terriers from scoring a second.

It also galvanised the Royals who drew level with 15 minutes on the clock.

The hosts won a free kick wide on the left and Norwood curled the ball into the six yard box.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Steer misjudged the bounce and allowed it to creep in at the near post to gift Royals an equaliser.

Sadly, the hosts remained vulnerable at the back and it took Huddersfield just 12 minutes to get their noses back in front.

Paterson was given too much time to find Wells with a simple pass and the Terriers striker's powerful finish gave Al Habsi no chance.

The hosts just weren't at the races and, as a succession of passes went astray, so the frustration grew in the stands.

Yet they finished the half strongly with Williams testing Steer from 25 yards before the Terriers keeper held on to Nick Blackman's header from a Piazon cross.

Even so, Clarke had seen enough and he made a double change at the interval with Orlando Sa replacing Piazon and Alex Fernandez coming on for McCleary.

Reading's tails were suddenly up and they went agonisingly close to an equaliser three minutes after the restart.

Vydra was well tackled in the Terriers box, but the ball ran to Blackman who smacked a shot against the post before Sa sliced the follow-up narrowly over the bar.

Then on 55 minutes a gap opened up for Sa, but the striker's finishing let him down and he missed the target by some distance.

Huddersfield began to sit deeper and deeper, though they continued to cause problems on the counter-attack.

From one such foray, only a timely intervention from Obita denied Wells a header from six yards out. Then Wells stung Al Habsi's hands from 15 yards just after the hour mark.

Now Royals were living dangerously, though Terriers let them off the hook when Mark Hudson skied one into the stands from point-blank range after Al Habsi had dropped the ball under pressure from Joel Lynch.

Clarke's men looked as though they had run out of steam, but the introduction of John for Danny Williams with 16 minutes to go reaped dividends.

The ex-Benfica winger found himself in a tight corner in the opposition box in the 84th minute.

But he twisted and turned, shifted the ball onto his left and hammered a low shot into the far corner from a tight angle.

The Madejski Stadium breathed a sigh of relief, but Royals were not finished there.

They ended the match camped in Huddersfield half, but efforts from Norwood, Blackman and John failed to beat Steer.

Royals remain in seventh place and face a trip to Cardiff City this Saturday (3pm).