Bikey doubles up to give Reading survival boost as Birmingham stutter

With still only 31 points on the board no one is counting their chickens just yet. But the sense of relief at having clawed their way out of the quicksand of an eight-match losing streak could be felt all around the Madejski Stadium after a win over fellow strugglers Birmingham.

Goalkeeper Hahnemann, in particular, is relieved at having put five points between Reading and the relegation zone. "It allows your spirits to be raised a little," said Hahnemann.

"You want to try to play as much as you can, but when you're down there your butt cheeks are clenched so tight. Having that little gap allows everyone just to relax a little bit. When a guy makes a mistake you don't have to rip his head off."

Having worked so hard to reach the pinnacle of English football, clearly no one at the club is willing to give in without a fight.

"It would have been really easy just to throw in the towel and call it quits," admitted Hahnemann. "But we didn't, that is not what we are about."

Coppell has certainly been impressed by the application his squad have shown. "I never really doubted that they would," he insisted. "You get so down after some results and you come in on Monday and think you're really going to have to try to lift players but they would come in and be in early wanting to work harder.

"As long as they keep doing that, I can't ask for any more."

No one epitomised that fighting spirit on Saturday more than Cameroon centre-back Andre Bikey who dedicated his two goals to his mother-in-law, Pilar Catero Herrera, who died in Spain on the eve of the game. "She was very important to me and my family," said an emotional Bikey.

"She was a lovely person. She was sick for a very long time with cancer. I went to see Steve Coppell before the game and told him my family was going to travel to Spain but it was very important for me to play the game. Sometimes you just have to make big decisions and I decided to play. I think she would have wanted me to play."

Bikey headed home Oster's free-kick to give Reading a 31stminute lead before doing the same with Nicky Shorey's delivery for the winner 11 minutes from time after Mauro Zarate's equaliser.

Conceding from set pieces and failing to take their chances have been the bugbears of Birmingham's season.

Saturday's culprit was Radhi Jaidi after manager Alex McLeish opted for the Tunisia defender ahead of Martin Taylor — available again after serving a three-match suspension for the tackle which broke Eduardo's left leg.

"He'll be gutted," said McLeish of Jaidi's failure to cope with two set pieces. 'He's an experienced player and I'm not here to criticise him because he's played well for us."

Losing the inspirational James McFadden to a knee injury for this and their next two encounters against Manchester City and Wigan at least will not help matters, with Birmingham just one point and one place outside the drop zone.