DAVE Edwards’ first career sending off left Reading FC boss Paul Clement to reflect on a night of red-card pain after a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

Edwards, 32, was given his marching orders for the first time in his 540-match career after two yellows in the space of 17 first-half minutes left Royals down to 10 men for an hour.

Villa coasted to victory with goals from Birkir Bjarnason, Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan in the second half to leave Reading five points above the relegation zone.

The defeat ended a topsy-turvy week for Clement who had celebrated his first win as Reading boss by beating QPR last week – again after finishing with 10 men.

"It was always going to be a difficult game,” admitted Clement. “The fact we went down to ten men made that task even more difficult.

"It’s unusual. In my previous two clubs (Swansea and Derby), I never had a situation where I’ve been down to ten men, and here I’ve had it in two consecutive games.

"But there were some good things defensively that went on in the first half.

“We possibly gave too much initiative to Aston Villa and they really got on the front foot and we had to defend our box a lot.

“But I still felt calm on the side as we were doing some good things.

"Even when we went to ten men, everyone stepped up and everyone was doing two or three jobs. We got to half-time at 0-0.”

Reading Chronicle:

Referee Darren Bond gave Dave Edwards a second yellow card for this clumsy challenge on Aston Villa's Birkir Bjarnason. 

Sadly, their resistance was finally broken barely a minute after the interval as Bjarnason fired Villa ahead.

Villa hammered home their 79% possession on the night when Hourihane headed home a second on 63 minutes with Hogan adding a third eight minutes later following a Vito Mannone mistake.

Clement groaned: "In the first five or ten minutes after half-time, it’s really important to keep things nice and tight, so conceding the goal on 46 minutes was a big mental blow for the team. It was difficult to get back into it then.”

Villa had 28 shots to Reading’s four, none of which really tested home keeper Sam Johnstone.

In stark contrast Mannone was busy all night and made several excellent saves before blotting his copy book by gifting Hogan his goal.

Reading Chronicle:

A rare chance for Reading at Villa Park as Mo Barrow's shot is blocked by former England defender, John Terry.

And Clement issued his under-pressure players with a firm reminder to stick with their attacking principles ahead of Saturday’s home clash against play-off chasing Preston North End (3pm ko).

"It was a difficult situation for us,” he added. “We have to make sure that we don’t forget to attack.

“In the first half we did a lot of good things defensively, but we have to remember that we’re good players who can create opportunities and put the opposition under threat.

"It’s also very important that we move on very quickly. There’s another game in a couple of days at home against Preston.

“It’s a big game that we really have to try and win."

Reading Chronicle:

Reading boss Paul Clement, left, shakes hands with Villa's Steve Bruce before Tuesday night's 3-0 defeat.

Hull's draw at leaders Wolves and Birmingham's win at Bolton has also plunged the battle for survival wide open again.

Reading remain five points above Barnsley in the last relegation spot, but the Tykes do have a game in hand.

Yet Royals also boast a superior goal difference and a few more decent results over the last six games should still see Clement's side secure their Championship status.