Reading manager Alan Pardew saw his side clinch their place in the Division One play-offs and then set his sights even higher.

The Royals guaranteed a top-six finish with a 2-1 win over relegated Grimsby thanks to goals from midfielders Glen Little and Andy Hughes.

Michael Keane struck an injury-time consolation but the scoreline flattered Grimsby in a one-sided game which saw the home side ease off the gas ahead of the end-of-season promotion lottery.

"We had three games to get a point but it was important to get there as quickly as we could," said manager Pardew.

He added: "Now I want us to finish third and to beat the club's best points total in the First Division.

"We have achieved five of the six goals we set ourselves at the start of the season and there is just one more to go - which is the ultimate goal of promotion."

Reading's passing play in the first half against Grimsby indicated that a place in the Premiership might just be within their reach as the Mariners were outplayed.

Little, on loan from Burnley until the end of the season, opened the scoring with his first goal for the club after just 70 seconds, firing home after Nicky Forster had missed Nick Shorey's teasing cross.

Hughes made it two with his ninth goal of the season midway through the first half when he accepted Luke Chadwick's neat pass and fired low past Danny Coyne.

The home side coasted from there and Coyne kept the scoreline respectable before Keane lashed home a late consolation just seconds after Terry Cooke had rattled the Reading crossbar.

"We could have snatched a draw at the death but over 90 minutes it could have been a whole lot worse," said dejected Grimsby boss Paul Groves, whose side are now guaranteed to finish bottom.

"I had to bring three players in for their first games and in an ideal world I would have given them debuts one at a time, but our resources meant I had to do it in bulk.

"I wanted to finish on a high at home to Brighton on Sunday but when I see Reading's facilities and their fight to get into the Premiership that brings home to me what we are leaving behind in this division."

Pardew believes his Reading side will be the underdogs in the Division One play-offs but says the Royals are capable of securing a place among football's elite.

"If we don't make it then no-one should be despondent. We should have a party to celebrate what we have achieved this season.

"But we will be giving it everything we've got and we've beaten all the other teams involved (in the play-offs) already this season so there is every reason for us to be optimistic."