Championship wrap: Browne and Smallbone on the mark

Alan Browne and Robbie Brady combined for what proved to be the winning goal in an incident filled 2-1 victory for Preston North End away to Birmingham City in the SkyBet Championship.

Three pitch invaders briefly halted the game as away-day specialists Preston inflicted a fifth straight league defeat on Birmingham in a 2-1 win at St Andrew's that saw referee Rebecca Welch make history.

In the first Championship game to be refereed in full by a female official, first league goals of the season from Ryan Ledson and captain Browne, who was assisted by Brady, in the opening 15 minutes won it for Ryan Lowe’s side.

Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz made it a nervy finish when he reduced the arrears late on, but North End earned their eighth win on their travels – a record equalled only by second-placed Sheffield United in the division.

But before then, the match was temporarily brought to a standstill when three Birmingham fans ran onto the pitch in the 77th minute to protest against the club’s board.

Will Smallbone opened the scoring as Stoke claimed their first points of 2023 with a 4-0 thrashing of Reading.

Smallbone's smart early finish paved the way for the Potters, who secured a first home victory since early November.

The influential Tyrese Campbell doubled the advantage in the second half to tighten the hosts' grip before Jacob Brown added a late third.

And an impressive Stoke performance was rounded off by Dwight Gayle, who scored his first goal since December 2020 in fortuitous circumstances.

Jay Fulton's late equaliser earned Swansea a point in a 1-1 draw at QPR.

Jamal Lowe’s goal on his full debut, against his former club, put Rangers ahead on 27 minutes.

But the Welsh side hit back with a well-worked goal with nine minutes