Reading extended their lead at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship to 13 points with an ultimately comfortable win over Southampton at the Madejski Stadium.

Prolific strikers Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle struck in the first half, either side of a strong spell of Southampton pressure.

Saints, with Grzegorz Rasiak and Alexander Ostlund both going close, had their chances but failed to take advantage - and the Royals closed out the game after the break.

The visitors - fielding all three of their midweek loan signings in Jermaine Wright, Richard Chaplow and Rasiak - enjoyed the better of the early chances.

Tottenham striker Rasiak tested Marcus Hahnemann with a powerful header, but the goalkeeper won a free-kick when Peter Madsen tried to bundle him over the line. Nathan Dyer also got in a fierce early shot, but Hahnemann was able to deal with it comfortably.

The Royals soon began to find their feet, Glen Little picking out Ibrahima Sonko with a heavy cross only for the latter's header to be blocked.

Lita opened the scoring after 15 minutes when Little took advantage of hesitancy in the Reading area to square for the striker to net his fourth goal in three games.

Southampton responded positively and should have had an equaliser 11 minutes before the break when Rasiak turned James Harper brilliantly on the edge of the area but screwed his shot wide.

Ostlund was also unlucky when he met Darren Potter's pinpoint cross with a superb header but saw it rebound off the bar.

Reading quickly switched play to the other end and doubled their advantage when Doyle reached a long ball and turned on the edge of the area to drill a low left-foot shot past Bartosz Bialkowski. It was his 12th of the season.

It was harsh on Southampton, who again tested Hahnemann before the break with a long-range shot from Chaplow - but they struggled to get themselves back into the game thereafter.

The second half lacked the goalmouth incident of the first, and Reading managed to deal comfortably with the chances which fell Southampton's way.

Chaplow, who scored two goals for West Brom on the same ground in the FA Cup last month, again shot straight at Hahnemann and then fired over.

Potter also provided another dangerous cross, but the sliding Rasiak was unable to make contact.

Reading eased off and gave Southampton little to think about other than crosses from Nicky Shorey and Doyle. With the game all but over, Lita was removed 15 minutes from time.

Southampton's last chance of getting anything out of the fixture passed when Potter shot over from a free-kick in the 85th minute.

Teams:

Reading Hahnemann, Murty, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Little,Sidwell, Harper, Convey (Hunt 81), Lita (Kitson 76), Doyle.

Subs Not Used: Oster, Stack, Gunnarsson.

Goals: Lita 16, Doyle 38.

Southampton Bialkowski, Ostlund, Lundekvam, Powell,Higginbotham, Potter, Wright, Chaplow, Dyer (Surman 70),Rasiak, Madsen (Jones 81).

Subs Not Used: Smith, Baird, Blackstock.

Booked: Ostlund.

Att: 23,845

Ref: A D'Urso (Essex).