Powell leaves it late to save the day for Stoke

SUBSTITUTE Nick Powell spared STOKE’S blushes as they snatched a late 1-1 draw at home against unbeaten BIRMINGHAM. Skipper Harlee Dean looked to have won it for the visitors at the bet365 Stadium when he netted his first goal for 10 months. But former Manchester United forward Powell came off the bench to bundle home fellow sub Tyrese Campbell’s cross with just four minutes remaining. Birmingham boss Aitor Karanka said: ‘We competed really well today, we didn’t create a lot of chances, but we scored one goal and it’s a good point.’ Elsewhere, it’s hard to believe Veljko Paunovic has been in the READING hotseat for five weeks. With four wins from four and just one goal conceded, the Royals are off to their best league start for 35 years. The Royals kept up their perfect record with a 1-0 home victory over Premier League-chasing WATFORD thanks to George Puscas’ deflected first-half strike. Wayne Rooney provided a reminder of his enduring class by curling home the free-kick that earned DERBY their first points of the season at NORWICH. NOTTINGHAM FOREST lost 2-1 at home to BRISTOL CITY and have yet to put a point on the board this season to put boss Sabri Lamouchi under pressure. Neil Warnock’s 1,500th game in management saw his MIDDLESBROUGH side beat BARNSLEY 2-1 for a first league win. Jake Bidwell helped continue SWANSEA’S strong start as they defeated MILLWALL 2-1. LUTON’s 2-0 win over WYCOMBE was their third league win from four. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY, penalised for breaking spending rules, are on minus seven points after Macauley Bonne scored a 96th-minute equaliser for QUEENS PARK RANGERS. An own goal by Yoann Barbet had given Wednesday the lead. Another 96th-minute goal saw HUDDERSFIELD draw 1-1 at ROTHERHAM.