ANYTHING that could go wrong did go wrong for Wanderers, right up until the last kick of the game against Reading.

Having battled bravely to overcome the loss of THREE players to injury inside the first half, Eidur Gudjohnsen’s 60th-minute strike looked to have settled the contest.

But two minutes into stoppage time Jamie Mackie broke the Whites’ resistance to snatch a thoroughly undeserved equaliser for the Royals, who had scored just once in their previous five games.

Just as it looked like the Whites’ injury list was clearing, Kevin McNaughton, David Wheater and Zach Clough all left the field under medical supervision and now look set for a prolonged spell out of action.

On top of that Wanderers had to contend with one of the most inconsistent refereeing performances the Macron Stadium has seen in ages.

Referee Mark Haywood changed his shirt colour from black to green at the interval but his performance was equally woeful in each half.

Wanderers should have gone into a weekend of inaction sitting comfortably in mid-table but Mackie’s late strike was just another in a long line of painful blows on the night.

Lennon changed things round slightly from the weekend, bringing McNaughton in for his first start since October in place of Josh Vela on the right side of the defence.

The Scot has been praised for his performance off the bench on Saturday, just days after his manager had questioned whether he was fit enough to command a regular starting place.

Just 10 minutes into his return those words came back to haunt him in the worst possible way.

After tangling with Jonathan Obita near the corner flag McNaughton went down clutching his leg. He briefly looked like returning after medical attention but broke down again.

The stretcher was called and Lennon found himself bringing Vela back in earlier than planned.

Wanderers maintained a decent start, however, and after Wheater had headed a Barry Bannan corner wide, Liam Feeney went even closer, bringing a good stop out of Adam Federici after Adam Le Fondre had dummied Saidy Janko’s low cross.

Ben Amos was brought into action for the first time 20 minutes in, dealing comfortably with a low shot from Mackie.

Moments later, Garath McCleary saw a shot cannon off Tim Ream – but at the same time attentions were diverted to the sad sight of Wheater hobbling round the back of the Whites’ goal after pulling up injured, forcing Lennon into a second substitution inside 25 minutes.

The Royals didn’t create too many clear cut chances, Mackie going closest with an angled shot after he had got the better of Ream.

Wanderers recovered their poise and should have been ahead by half time.

Heaven knows how Reading kept the ball out of the net when Matt Mills got his head to Feeney’s cross, blocked on the line.

If Lennon had cursed his luck so far, it was about to get worse.

Clough was sent sprawling in a challenge with Nathaniel Chalobah, falling awkwardly, and as the on-loan Chelsea midfielder returned to his feet the fact he pushed down on the injured striker sent fans into a frenzy.

Clutching his shoulder, the 19-year-old became the third player needing to be replaced – but as he walked off with medical attention, his captain Mills was spitting with fury at referee Haywood.

As if to emphasise what luck Wanderers are having with injuries, even one of the half time Zorb competitors ended up going off on a stretcher.

Referee Haywood had departed the pitch to jeers wearing a black shirt and returned to the same hostile reception wearing a natty green number.

Reading twice went close after the restart. Mackie nearly made Mills pay for a poor pass, dragging his shot wide of goal then Alex Pearce headed on to the roof of the net.

You feared Wanderers might start feeling sorry for themselves – instead they produced their best spell of the game.

Haywood turned down two shouts for a penalty before the door was finally battered down, Le Fondre getting to the byline to pull a cross back for Gudjohnsen to crash home from six yards.

A lead was exactly what Wanderers deserved but it was only thanks to the head of Bannan that it was preserved – the Scottish midfielder getting back on the line to block a goal-bound effort from Pearce.

Bannan was the star of the show for Wanderers and nearly got a goal but his shot was tipped away by Federici.

Three minutes of added time was flagged up, and just as it seemed Wanderers had got the job done Mackie popped up to claim a loose ball on the edge of the box, burst through, and rifle a heart-breaker into the bottom corner.