Scotland striker McFadden was ruled out of the 2-1 loss and will also sit out clashes with Manchester City and Wigan.

McLeish said: "James had a small tear in his knee.

"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."