JON Dadi Bodvarsson and George Evans grabbed the goals as Reading FC secured their first away Championship win with a 2-0 victory at Birmingham City.

Bodvarsson put the gloss on a terrific display when he fired Royals ahead in the second half with his first goal for the club following his summer move from nearby Wolves.

And Evans netted his second in two games late on to clinch all three points for Jaap Stam's men at St.Andrew's.

Throw in a first clean sheet in the league and confirmation of David Edwards' signing from Wolves before kick-off, and it was a day to remember for Stam and his players.

Reading and Birmingham had got their seasons off to a sluggish start, with both taking four points from their opening four Championship fixtures.

But Royals deserved all they got in the Midlands and were a threat all afternoon.

With Stam expected to sign another striker before Thursday's deadline to add to Edwards' arrival, and with a string of injured player expected back soon, Reading suddenly look a force to be reckoned with from here on.

Bodvarsson returned the starting line-up after a recent knock, while Liam Kelly shook off a dead leg picked up in the defeat at Preston a week earlier and fit-again Joey van den Berg stepped back in to protect the Royals defence.

After surviving an early corner, Reading steadily grew in confidence, began to see more of the ball and started to find openings in the Birmingham half.

Bodvarsson almost gave them a 10th minute lead with a shot that had David Stockdale diving low to his right after good work from Kelly in the build-up.

The Icelandic striker threatened again two minutes later by curling an effort just wide in a move featuring Leandro Bacuna.

Then ex-Aston Villa man Bacuna fired over on 17 minutes with Blues back-tracking before Liam Moore's header was narrowly off target from a Kelly free kick five minutes later.

To that point Reading had managed to keep Redknapp's men relatively quiet, but Blues issued a warning in the 28th minute when Jacques Maghoma shook off Paul McShane and burst towards goal, only for Stephen Gleeson to lift his shot miles into the stands.

Four minutes later Redknapp was forced to change his plans when Carl Jenkinson suffered a nasty injury in his first match since joining from Arsenal on loan.

When play resumed, Royals went close again, Mo Barrow racing onto Kelly's well-weighted pass before firing past Stockdale, only for the linesman to raise the offside flag.

Back came the Blues but Maghoma's finishing let him down after beating Tyler Blackett.

And they finished the first half strongly with Cohen Bramall letting fly from upwards of 30 yards only for Vito Mannone to superbly tip it around the post for a corner.

But the hosts relied on Stockdale to bail them out of trouble soon after the interval with another vital save to deny Kelly an opener.

The Irish midfielder looked odds-on to score when Gunter's pass reached him via a smart Bodvarsson dummy. But he failed to get the right connection allowing Stockdale to dive full stretch and keep the ball out.

Royals then wasted the best chance of the match with a miss-of-the-season contender by Barrow in the 56th minute.

Kelly did brilliantly to beat his man before finding Barrow lurking unmarked around eight yards out, but the ex-Swansea star looked far too casual as he scuffed the ball wide with only Stockdale to beat.

Moments such as that can win or lose matches - but Royals quickly put it behind them before breaking the deadlock on the hour mark.

A lovely team move ended with Blackett sending over an inch-perfect cross to Bodvarsson who peeled into space before planting a precise header past Stockdale for his first in Royals colours.

It was no more than Stam's men deserved, and they almost doubled their lead three minutes later when Kelly's effort flew over from Barrow's assist.

Yet the visitors were also relieved to see Sam Gallagher head wide moments later from a Jonathan Grounds centre.

Stam was quick to send on fresh legs with a tiring van den Berg making way for Evans, who is attracting interest from Brentford and Burton Albion, and Garath McCleary replacing Barrow.

And the visitors were screaming for a penalty 14 minutes from time when Bodvarsson went own under a Marc Roberts challenge, but referee Steve Martin did not want to know.

However, Birmingham almost levelled through substitute David Davis when his powerful drive was deflected behind after superb defending by Moore.

Mannone then produced a crucial save to deny Davis from the corner as Redknapp's men piled on the pressure.

But Reading swiftly extinguished hopes of a Blues comeback by adding a second with five minutes to go.

McCleary recycled the ball after Stockdale had beaten away Bodvarsson's initial effort.

Royals' sub then rolled the ball into the path of Evans who buried his first-time effort past Stockdale for his second goal in two games after his brilliant strike in Tuesday's Carabao Cup win over Millwall.

And Reading almost snatched a third at the death when an effort from substitute Sam Smith flew inches wide of the post.

But Stam's men had already done enough and they will head into a fortnight's international break brimming with confidence.

Birmingham: Stockdale, Morrison, Roberts, Grounds (Davis 79), Jenkinson (Nsue 32), Ndoye (Jutkiewicz 46), Gleeson, Kieftenbeld, Bramall, Gallagher, Maghoma. Subs not used: Shotton, Gardner, Kuszczak, Harding.

Reading: Mannone, Gunter, Blackett, McShane (c), Moore, Ilori, Van den Berg (Evans 70), Bacuna, Kelly, Barrow (McCleary75), Böðvarsson (Smith 88). Subs not used: Jaakkola, Clement, Popa, Andresson.

Referee: Steve Martin.

Attendance: 19,993 (Reading 895).