Reading's promotion hopes suffered another setback as they were held to a goalless draw by Leicester at the Madejski Stadium.

The two sides failed to fashion any clear-cut openings between them in an uneventful opening 45 minutes but the hosts dominated after the break only to be frustrated by a combination of poor finishing and bad luck.

The Royals were without a Coca-Cola Championship win this year, while Craig Levein's side had not won in three league games and neither of the two was prepared to give an inch in the early exchanges.

Both teams made a lively start with Reading midfielder Andy Hughes having a long-range shot deflected behind and Leicester's Joey Gudjonsson firing wide from distance.

Reading's leading scorer Dave Kitson was keen to get on the scoresheet and he was only stopped by a perfectly-timed tackle by Jordan Stewart as he raced through on goal.

Lloyd Owusu kept his place in the Royals attack but it was the defences who were on top in the early stages with both sides restricted to trying their luck from outside the penalty area in what was turning into a scrappy encounter.

Richard Stearman lined up in the Leicester rearguard in place of the injured Alan Maybury, while Mark de Vries started and Stephen Hughes was named among the substitutes.

Ricky Newman was given the nod to partner Steve Sidwell in the Reading midfield with James Harper dropping to the bench. But the Royals duo were losing out to their Leicester counterparts Gudjonsson and Gareth Williams who were pulling the strings in the middle.

The Foxes were threatening more than their hosts but they were always lacking the final ball before de Vries almost fired them ahead right at the end of the half with a fierce drive from the edge of the area which fizzed inches wide.

Kitson had the ball in the net as the game burst into life just after the restart following good play between Graeme Murty and Hughes, but the former Cambridge marksman's effort was ruled out for offside.

Owusu had worked hard without reward and he made way for Les Ferdinand after the veteran striker recovered from the groin injury which kept him out of the midweek draw at Crewe.

Leicester sent on Stephen Hughes and Lilian Nalis in place of Williams and Danny Tiatto, while Royals boss Steve Coppell introduced Glen Little with Paul Brooker leaving the field.

Reading looked more of an attacking force as the game wore on and when a Dion Dublin backpass caused panic in the Foxes area nobody could put the ball in the net and when it fell to Hughes 20 yards from goal he could only blast it over the crossbar.

Kitson found himself through on goal with 10 minutes left but Leicester goalkeeper Ian Walker made an impressive stop to earn his side a share of the spoils.

Teams

Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Newman, Brooker (Little 71), Hughes, Sidwell, Kitson, Owusu (Ferdinand 61).

Subs Not Used: Harper, Morgan, Young.

Booked: Shorey.

Leicester: Walker, Tiatto (Nalis 70), Dabizas, Dublin (Heath 77), Stewart, Gillespie, Williams (Hughes 69), Stearman, Gudjonsson, de Vries, Connolly.

Subs Not Used: Canero, Hirschfeld.

Booked: Connolly, Stearman, Gudjonsson.

Att: 14,651

Ref: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).