Bristol City secured a valuable three points as they beat Reading 1-0 at the Madejski Stadium in what was a close encounter.

Jamie Paterson's second half strike was enough to secure the victory for Lee Johnson's men, and push the Robins into sixth in the Championship table.

It was a relatively uneventful first-half at the Madejski with both teams lacking a ruthless, killer-edge in the final third, as both teams had a fair share of minor chances.

The first major opportunity of the game fell to Bristol City in the seventh minute, after Niclas Eliasson delivered an impressive ball into the Royals' box where Weimann met it with his head, but his effort just shaded Rafael Cabral's right-hand post.

A great block from Michael Morrison then in the 24th minute was enough to fend off Famara Diedhiou's clear-cut effort on goal after a mass goal-mouth scramble in the six-yard box from a Robins corner.

Shortly after, one of Reading's better chances of the first-half fell to John Swift who tested Daniel Bentley from 25 yards with a fizzing strike into the bottom right corner, but the Robins goalkeeper met the strike with an assured save to palm it away for a corner.

As the second half commenced, the Royals came out the better side and the home side were handed a big opportunity to go 1-0 up.

In the 58th minute, a corner was whipped in and it was headed down by centre-back Michael Morrison to Ovie Ejaria to slot it home from a few yards out, but somehow he skied his effort over the bar.

The Royals were made to rue that missed chance, as four minutes later, the lively Niclas Eliasson broke forward down the right and crossed for Jamie Paterson who slotted the ball cooly past Rafael, there were suggestions of offside by the Reading defence but it was to no avail.

Bowen to tried to transform Reading's fortunes, making three attacking substitutions with Baldock, Meite and Aluko all coming on, but it wasn't enough to secure a comeback.

A last chance was offered to the Royals in the 87th minute though, as a Yakou Meite header struck the post, with Aluko then seeing his effort charged down before Gunter's attempted lob, nodded off the line.

Despite waves of last ditch Reading attacks, Bristol City's backline stood strong and remained resilient to ensure a vital three points travelled back with them down the M4.