
Reading completed a League One double over Carlisle United with a 3-1 win at Brunton Park.
It edged them a little further away from the drop zone but left United stuck at the bottom 15 points adrift of safety and eight points behind their nearest rival.
Not for the first time this season Carlisle could not match the class and quality of the opposition and were on the back-foot from the start.
Harvey Knibbs scored twice in Reading’s 5-1 home win earlier in the season and he was on the score-sheet twice again in the return at Brunton Park.
Knibbs had actually created the first chance of the game when he played in Sam Smith but his shot came back off the post.
However the opening goal came on 17 minutes when Smith was put through again and this time he drilled the ball past advancing home keeper Harry Lewis.
Ten minutes before half-time Reading doubled their lead when skipper Andy Yiadom got to the by-line and his cut back was tapped home at short range by Knibbs.
It was Knibbs again who scored the third after 57 minutes when he finished off a clever cross from Femi Azeez.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan was close to pushing Reading four goals clear but Lewis did well to tip his effort over the bar.
Jon Mellish did pull one back for Carlisle on 71 minutes when he headed in Jordan Gibson’s cross but they never really looked like eating further into the Reading lead and it was nine defeats in the last ten games for them.
They had been unable to add to Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Burton Albion.