Reading 1-1 Birmingham City: Royals fall into relegation zone after drawing with Blues
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Luas Jutkiewicz scored his fourth goal of the campaign as he drew Birmingham City level with Reading
Reading fell into the Championship's bottom three and are deep in relegation trouble after being held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City.
Andy Carroll slotted the ball home after just six minutes to give the Royals the perfect start, days after the club was docked six points by the EFL for breaching the terms of a business plan.
But Lukas Jutkiewicz's header midway through the first half levelled the score for the visitors.
Wins for Cardiff City at Blackpool and Huddersfield Town at Watford saw both clubs climb above Reading, leaving the Royals in the relegation zone and one point from safety behind QPR, who were beaten by Preston.
Paul Ince's side were plunged into a relegation battle this week after the EFL handed them a deduction for failing to adhere to the terms of a business plan, for a previous profit and sustainability rule breach.
The points penalty dropped Reading down to 20th but after picking up only one point on Good Friday while their rivals won elsewhere, they fall into the bottom three with six games to go.
Carroll's early goal seemed to be the exact tonic Reading needed and came after the ball was passed down the channel to Lucas Joao, who cut it back for Carroll to simply stroke it into the bottom corner.
Yet Jutkiewicz equalised for the Blues after 29 minutes, heading in a cross from Reda Khadra for his fourth league goal of the campaign.
Birmingham, whose place in the Championship for next season was virtually all-but assured already, remain in 16th place and are unbeaten in their past three games.
Tahith Chong saw a shot from a tight angle saved by Joe Lumley at the end of an excellent counter-attack move, while Femi Azeez dragged a volley wide of the post late on for Reading in what was a quiet second half with limited opportunities for either side.
Reading manager Paul Ince told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"I thought we were the better team, I think we deserved to win it. We started off so well and I've said so many times in the last few games we haven't scored the first goal, and I said to the players we need to get the first goal, start faster.
"What a goal it was, some great football, great flick from Lukas - I thought he was outstanding today, just his work-rate generally - and an wonderful finish from AC (Andy Carroll). So we got off to a great start.
"After that 15 minutes we went a bit passive and started to defend deep and allowed them to start taking control of the game and it's like we were protecting a 1-0 lead. It's a case of going and trying to make it two or three and make it comfortable for you.
"I wanted to try and win the game convincingly as you can see with the way I set up my team up, we need to start attacking and get goals and try and collate points, and we got off to a great start but then all of a sudden you think did we score too early because we just get deeper and deeper and deeper.
"It's been a tough week for us, mentally it's been tough for the players. It's been frustrating because everyone's been asking me when's it's [points deduction] coming. And when it does come even though you know it's coming it's a tough one mentally and emotionally to deal with."
Birmingham City manager John Eustace told BBC Radio WM:
"After having their six points deducted earlier in the week we knew it was going to be a really difficult game today, the fans are right behind the team, they made some really positive changes to the team from last week and the front three there are all top players at this level.
"I thought we dealt with that overall very well. Disappointed with the way they scored their goal but the character we showed after that was really good.
"The goal that we scored was a magnificent footballing goal which was really pleasing and we were always in the game and could have maybe nicked the winner in the end, but I think a point's a really good point."