READING slumped to a third sucessive away defeat without scoring as the Championship play-off race was blown wide open.

Royals' 3-0 loss at Preston North End coupled with Fulham's shock 3-1 win at Newcastle leaves Jaap Stam's side just four points above the seventh-placed Cottagers who also have a game in hand.

And given Reading's wretched run on the road, few would back Stam's men to win at sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday on March 17 in another promotion six-pointer.

Suddenly, Royals look anything but certainties to claim a play-off spot. They are a force at Madejski Stadium, but badly out of form on their travels.

This was their third loss in a row away from home following earlier defeats to promotion-chasing Brighton and Huddersfield.

Stam's men have also failed to score in any of those games - a bad time to suffer a barren run with so much now at stake.

Here at Deepdale, a three-goal blitz in 18 minutes either side of the break was enough to secure an impressive victory for Simon Grayson's hosts thanks to a Tom Barkhuizen double on 31 and 49 minutes plus a 40th-minute Daryl Horgan strike.

And all this after the visitors had squandered a glut of chances before Preston had taken the lead.

Stam made two changes from the side that drew 0-0 with leaders Newcastle United as Jordan Obita and John Swift came in for the injured Liam Moore and Liam Kelly.

Yakou Meite also returned to the Reading bench that included fit-again West Ham loanee Reece Oxford, who came on for his debut late in the game.

With Stam missing defensive anchor Moore due to a hamstring problem, he went with three at the back with skipper Paul McShane and Tyler Blackett sitting either side of Joey van den Berg, allowing Chris Gunter and Obita to push forward down the flanks.

The visitors threatened in the fifth minute when Lewis Grabban's 30-yarder skimmed the top of the Preston net.

Then five minutes later the on-loan Bournemouth forward linked up nicely with Obita, who tested Chris Maxwell with a decent effort.

Stam's men remained on the front foot and, as the pressure grew on the hosts, so the opportunities arrived for the visitors.

Grayson's side needed Maxwell to produce his best to claw away a bullet from McCleary from outside the area with 22 minutes gone.

Then Swift picked out Kermorgant from the corner and, although the Frenchman connected well with a volley from eight yards, Tom Clarke managed to block it on the line.

The Lilywhites were living dangerously, but Royals continued to spurn their chances as Jordon Mutch fired wide of the far post after superb work by McCleary and Swift in the 26th minute.

And moments later Preston were hanging on again as McCleary led a slick counter-attack, teeing up Kermorgant who failed to hit the target.

However, Preston were not so wasteful at the other end and, after Aiden McGeady's shot had been saved by Ali Al-Habsi and Swift had gone close for the Royals, they broke the deadlock in the 31st minute.

A mistake by Blackett opened up space for Horgan, and when the ball reached Barkhuizen, he lashed it past Al-Habsi from outside the area.

If that wasn't enough of a blow for the visitors, they also lost the lively Mutch to injury two minutes later, with Danny Williams taking his place.

When it seemed things couldn't get any worse, they soon did five minutes before the break when Preston doubled their lead.

To compound Reading's frustrations, it came from their own corner as Paul Huntington countered quickly, avoided several half-tackles before feeding Horgan who stabbed home at the second attempt after his first had rebounded off Al-Habsi.

McCleary almost snatched one back on the stroke of half time when his swerving effort from distance appeared to catch out Maxwell, the ball hittng the keeper's chest before bouncing out of Kermorgant's reach.

Stam's men must have gone in wondering how they could be two behind given the way they had played and chances they had created.

But two quickly became three soon after the restart leaving Reading staring down the barrel.

The visitors swicthed off as Andrew Boyle floated a free-kick into the box and Barkhuizen was left unmarked to slot home from close range and knock the stuffing out of Reading.

Kermorgant did see a shot blocked in a good position and Grabban blazed over just short of the hour mark as Royals made some kind of response.

But McGeady and Greg Cunningham went even closer to grabbing a Preston fourth as both were a whisker away from scoring from direct free kicks.

There was no heroic comeback from there as Preston shifted into cruise mode during the latter stages.

Perhaps the only bright spot for Royals was the sight of Oxford making his debut from the bench, with the game already lost.

But even that was countered by the first-half injury to Mutch, who must be a doubt for the trip to Hillsborough next Friday night.