First-half goals from Callum Connolly and Joe Garner saw Town to what in the end was a comfortable 2-0 victory over Reading at Portman Road. Connolly’s low shot gave the Blues the lead in the third minute, then Garner headed the second on 27
Garner returned to the Town starting line-up with the Blues otherwise unchanged from the team which lost 2-0 at Middlesbrough last week.
The former Rangers man, a sub at the Riverside, returned to his usual lone striker’s role in Town’s now familiar 4-2-3-1 system with Martyn Waghorn moving back into the position vacated by Emyr Huws, who is out for the season having undergone knee surgery on Thursday.
David McGoldrick was back on the bench having recovered from the gash to his groin he suffered in the Sheffield Wednesday match last month.
Reading made one change with Tyler Blackett replacing Liam Kelly, who dropped to the bench.
The Blues went ahead via the first attack of the game in the third minute. Connolly won the ball just inside the Town half and fed Bersant Celina, who broke into space before playing into the feet of Waghorn to his left.
The club’s 10-goal top scorer deftly turned it into the path of the breaking Connolly, who struck a low shot to Reading keeper Vito Mannone’s right from the edge of the box and into the net.
The on-loan Everton man’s third goal for the Blues - all in the last four games - once again came early on like his previous strikes, scored in the fifth and seventh minutes.
Town weren’t too far away from a second soon after going ahead, Waghorn finding space but shooting wide of the Mannone’s right post.
Mo Barrow picked up the game’s first yellow card for dissent having been penalised for a foul, then on 10 Leandro Bacuna joined him in referee Peter Bankes’s book also for protesting, unusually having just been awarded a freekick for a foul by Skuse, the Royals’ players having spent much of the opening spell chipping away and surrounding the referee.
Reading started to dominate possession, as is their usual approach under Dutch manager Jaap Stam, and on 16 Chris Gunter crossed from the right and Yann Kermorgant laid back to Sone Aluko, who struck a shot which flew narrowly wide.
The visitors were making significant headway down the Town left and on 18 Gunter was sent away in space and cut across to Dave Edwards, whose goalbound shot was diverted wide by the sliding Jordan Spence.
On 23 Barrow was played in on the Reading left and sent over a low cross towards Kermorgant but Adam Webster made an important interception and slid behind.
The Blues had found themselves under pressure having gone ahead but on 26 Spence made a strong run forward to the edge of the box and eventually Ward, who had switched to the left with Celina moving to the right presumably to help negate Gunter’s threat, struck a shot which deflected over the bar.
And from the corner, the Blues doubled their lead. Waghorn whipped the ball over, Webster flicked it on at the near post and Garner powerfully nodded his sixth goal of the season into the net from six yards.
After Cole Skuse had undergone lengthy treatment for what looked to be a knee problem following a challenge with Blackett, Waghorn was booked for a foul on one-time Town trialist Joey van den Berg.
Reading continued to dominate possession with the Blues remaining resolute in defence. A 36th-minute Van den Berg shot was blocked, then Liam Moore's overhead kick was cleared.
In the 40th minute Waghorn sent over a cross from the left after a short corner and the ball appeared to be diverted over the bar by a Reading player ahead of Webster but referee Bankes gave a goalkick.
Town began to see more of the ball as the half moved into injury time. Connolly might have made it 3-0 after Waghorn touched the ball to him from Garner’s low cross, but the ball came too quickly to the England U20 international and he was unable to get it under control.
Waghorn went close again just before the break, smashing over after a loose ball had fallen to him on the edge of the box.
Just before the whistle, Bacuna shot over from 20 yards with Webster grounded with what appeared to be an arm injury, the ex-Portsmouth man eventually able to continue to half-time.
The Blues will have been delighted with their half’s work. Having got their noses in front via Connolly’s increasingly familiar early goal, they sat back and were able to repel everything the Royals threw at them - if not always entirely comfortably - with Bartosz Bialkowski not forced to make a save.
Town had made little headway on the break until the very impressive Spence’s counter-attack led to the corner which yielded Garner’s goal.
Reading continued to dominate in the spell after Town’s second but as the break approached the Blues had seen more and more of the ball and were pushing for a third.
Skuse was replaced by Kevin Bru ahead of the second half, the Bristolian presumably still feeling the effects of his first-half injury.
Garner wasn’t too far away from his second of the game a minute and a half after the restart, the Blues’ number 14 hammering a volley from Waghorn’s corner against Gunter with the ball otherwise appearing destined for the net.
Reading began to dominate possession once again with the Blues looking to catch them on the break.
In the 51st minute Barrow forced Bialkowski into his first save of the game with a low cross-shot from the left which the Blues’ keeper punched away from his near post.
Royals skipper Paul McShane saw his name added to referee Bankes’s book for catching Garner with an arm in the 52nd minute despite vehement protests.
Town almost made it 3-0 in the 59th minute - after a lengthy delay as McShane underwent treatment on a head injury - from a cleverly worked freekick. Celina ran over the ball before Waghorn played it to him as he broke into the right of the area from where the Kosovan international struck a low shot which Liam Moore cleared off the line.
Moore was in action at the other end on 61, nodding a right-sided corner into the ground and towards goal but Bialkowski claimed above his head.
Three minutes later, Bacuna crossed from the right and Barrow slammed wide from a tight angle beyond the far post.
On 66 Edwards was booked, again for dissent, after protesting having fouled Waghorn. Following the freekick, Connolly volleyed through to Mannone but without seriously testing the keeper.
Following a rapturous round of applause in tribute to long-serving club staff member Dick Parker, who died suddenly last weekend, in the 67th minute, Spence made a superb run down the right and cut in between two defenders but Mannone blocked his shot.
On 73 Waghorn made an audacious attempt to catch Mannone off his line from distance but the former Arsenal man claimed comfortably. A minute later, Liam Kelly replaced Blackett for the Royals.
Town were looking comfortable with Reading much less of the threat in the second half and in the 76th minute they were again close to making it 3-0. Celina picked up a loose ball midway inside the Royals half, then tricked his way into the area before smashing over. Moments later, summer Town loan target Jon Dadi Bodvarsson took over from Aluko.
On 88 Webster was yellow-carded for foul out on the right on Van den Berg. Spence flicked the Dutchman’s freekick behind at the far post.
A minute later, Dominic Iorfa replaced Celina then, during five minutes of injury time, Freddie Sears took over from Garner.
Town saw out the remaining minutes with little fanfare to cement a deserved three points, Reading having rarely looked like getting back into the game in the second half.
Barrow’s low shot at Bialkowski’s near post was the Blues’ keeper’s only serious save, while Town might well have added more goals with Spence and Celina both creating themselves decent opportunities.
The only disappointment for Town was the attendance of only 13,832, the lowest Portman Road crowd for a home game in the league since 13,212 attended the Blues' 1-0 victory over Swindon in October 1998. Christmas and two home fixtures over the festive period will have had an impact on that, along with ticket promotions at the two previous games.
The win stretches the Blues’ home unbeaten run to four games, three of the wins, and moves them up to eighth, two points off the play-offs ahead of next week’s game away against leaders Wolves.
Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers (c), Webster, Knudsen, Skuse (Bru 46), Connolly, Ward, Waghorn, Celina (Iorfa 89), Garner (Sears 90). Unused: M Crowe, T Smith, Bishop, McGoldrick.
Reading: Mannone, Gunter, McShane (c), Moore, Blackett (Kelly 74), Van den Berg, Edwards,, Bacuna, Barrow, Aluko (Bodvarsson 77), Kermorgant. Unused: Jaakola, Beerens, Ilori, Clement, Richards. Peter Bankes (Liverpool). Att: 13,832 (Reading: 510).