Birmingham striker James McFadden will miss the next two games after completing keyhole surgery on his knee on Saturday morning.
Scotland striker McFadden was ruled out of the 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat at Reading and will also sit out clashes with Manchester City and Wigan.
Blues manager Alex McLeish said: "James had a small tear in his knee.
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"He had keyhole surgery this morning, and we'll miss him for two more matches.
"It happened after the Newcastle match. We were not concerned at first, because we thought it was just a knock.
"But over the past few days the physiotherapist thought it might be a tear in his knee - and so it proved to be.
"He's out now, but it lets other plays have a chance."
Cameroon defender Andre Bikey struck twice to secure Reading three crucial points at the Madejski Stadium.
Birmingham had hit back when Mauro Zarate levelled in the 65th minute - but Bikey sealed victory with a thumping header 10 minutes from time.
The defeat leaves the Blues just a point above the relegation zone in 17th, and former Scotland boss McLeish is reluctant to set a safety target.
He said: "I don't really like doing the points thing.
"I did that for the Scotland campaign - and Arsene Wenger said 24 points would be enough to qualify for Euro 2008. But it wasn't.
"Three pointers are becoming essential for us; it's important that we pick them up, because it's becoming so tight.
"But need to keep everyone fit and stop shipping goals."
Reading boss Steve Coppell hailed Bikey's two-goals - the African celebrated the strikes with a triple somersault - and was impressed by the way his side reacted to Birmingham's fightback.
He said: "It's a delight for anyone to score goals. But Bikey celebrates in his own particular style, which is with a flourish.
"The goals were very welcome. The second one came at a stage when we hadn't quite lost our way but they'd changed their shape - and we had to respond to that.
"We're not very good at holding on to things, and so our mentality must be to score more goals - because we have more bite when we have the incentive to score.
"Credit to Birmingham - they had a spell for 10 minutes when they were in control, and I couldn't see a way out of it. But I brought on Shane Long, and we needed that change.
"At one stage I thought we'd be punished for not converting our chances, because we had more than enough to win. Bikey's second was a delight."
Reading sit in 15th place, and Coppell is convinced the magical 40-point mark is within reach.
He said: "It doesn't matter when you get the points; you just have to get them. I've said all along we're capable of getting 40, and that's still the case.
"We have seven games left, so the ball is still in our court."
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £36.50 ON SOUTHEND v DONCASTER
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Friday evening's League One Play-Off clash between Southend and Doncaster, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 7.45pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £36.50, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £36.50 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match and we will collect £107.50 if Doncaster win, £107.50 if Southend win and £107.81 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Place £20.00 on Doncaster at 2.75 (7/4) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Doncaster as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Doncaster.
Back the draw with £26.00 at 3.3 (9/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Southend at 2.15 (23/20) with Extrabet.
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Southend.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Doncaster win, you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £107.81. That's £82.81 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Southend win you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Southend v Doncaster match is no draw and you make £36.50 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £36.81. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
