Danny Guthrie scored twice as Reading continued their good run with victory over a comfortable win over Birmingham, who were brought back to earth with a bump following their midweek heroics in knocking holders Swansea out of the Capital One Cup.
Both of Guthrie's goals come from free-kicks - the first unintended, as it flew through a packed Birmingham penalty area, and the second an accurate set-piece that found the net via a post.
Those goals helped Reading make it 13 points from their last five league games and leave Birmingham unable to cap a memorable week with a third successive victory.
Lee Clark's men beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 in the league last time out and then followed that up with a 3-1 cup win over Swansea, and buoyed by those successes they started brightly.
Tuesday's weather for the west of the region
Tuesday's weather for the east of the region
Monday night's weather for the west of the region