The Royals fell to an unfortunate 1-0 defeat to a strong Aston Villa side, as hot Villan prospect Gary Gardner scored the only goal of the game at Hogwood.

The 17-year-old midfielder bagged his fourth goal in a week, drilling home a 12th minute free-kick to give his side all three points.

Despite an extremely hard-working performance which saw Reading match their Premier League opponents for much of the game, Eamonn Dolan's men were unable to grab a point.

Reading XI: Locke, Arnold, Isaac (Hector 75), Stockinger, McHugh, Mills, White (Mutero 75), Harding, Ugwu, Losasso, Obita
Subs: Mutero, Hector, Lyskov, Morgan, Murphy