Saints have signed 19-year-old Reading winger Michail Antonio on a month’s loan.

Antonio impressed in last month’s reserve match between Saints and the Royals, scoring with a close-range header.

He signed from non-league Tooting and Mitcham United last summer and has made two substitute appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ side this season, as well as spending the second half of last season on loan at Cheltenham Town.

He’s been assigned the number 37 shirt, and he will be eligible for tomorrow night’s Johnstones Paint Trophy match against Torquay at St Mary’s.

Grzegorz Rasiak has signed for Championship side Reading for an undisclosed fee, ending weeks of speculation about his future.

The Polish striker was signed by George Burley from Tottenham for £2m (after an initial loan spell) more than three years ago and made 87 appearances for the club, scoring 33 goals in the process. As the club’s highest earner, he was sent out on loan twice in order to save money while the club’s financial situation deteriorated, spending five months at Bolton Wanderers and the whole of last season at Watford, scoring ten goals in 25 appearances.

He was linked with a permanent return to the Hornets with Tommy Smith heading out of Vicarage Road, but it would appear his wage demands were too great for them to commit to. It is believed Rasiak also held talks with Swansea City but ultimately opted for a much shorter journey to the Madejski Stadium. With Reading having sold Kevin Doyle and released Leroy Lita this summer, they’ve struggled for goals so far this season, so he’s likely to get plenty of football there.

It was quite clear that he was looking to move on after Saints’ relegation to League One, but to give him credit, it would have been very easy for him to go through the motions, refuse to play in pre-season games, etc, but he played in the majority of the pre-season friendlies, and looked decent in his competitive appearances this season. However, it’s never worth keeping a player against his will these days, and to have got a reported £400,000 for a player on massive wages and in the last year of his contract looks like a pretty good deal for the club.

Hopefully that money will be reinvested in a replacement - while Matt Paterson and Marek Saganowski are good enough, we probably need at least one other striker to cover for the likely injuries and suspensions that will accumulate during the season. Alan Pardew might also be looking at right-back as a key position with Graeme Murty likely to be sidelined for some time with the knee injury he suffered against Birmingham on Tuesday.

Shane Long scored a late equaliser to deny Saints a league double over second-placed Reading at St Mary’s following David McGoldrick’s opener.

Jan Poortvliet made two changes to the side that lost at Plymouth on Boxing Day with the experienced Chris Perry coming into the side at the expense of Olly Lancashire, who dropped down to the bench, and Matt Paterson was handed his first senior start in place of Andrew Surman who picked up an ankle injury late in the game at Home Park.

Reading’s Noel Hunt was only fit enough to take a place on the visitors’ subs bench following an injury he suffered in their recent win at Birmingham, but the Royals were still able to field a very attack-minded line-up with Kevin Doyle, Shane Long and Stephen Hunt all playing from the start. Second-choice keeper Adam Federici, who scored Reading’s 96th-minute equaliser against Cardiff on Friday, retained his place in the continued absence of Marcus Hahnemann.

Saints, as has often been the case this season, started brightly with Paterson and David McGoldrick linking up to good effect through the middle and Lee Holmes and Rudi Skacel teaming up on the left flank. Ryan Smith was also seeing a lot of the ball on the other side, but Reading had clearly watched him carefully at Plymouth as he was often faced by at least two defenders who were happy for him to keep the ball out wide on the right rather than allow him to cut inside onto his favoured left foot.

Reading were surprisingly trying to play very direct in the first half, looking for flick-ons by Doyle from long balls, and it came as no real shock that they made very little use of them. They did, however, look dangerous on the rare occasions that they managed to get the ball out wide. Stephen Hunt caused Lloyd James a few problems and Skacel had to be alert and brave to make a headed clearance at the far post when he knew he was inevitably going to be on the end of a hefty challenge straight afterwards, for which he earned a free-kick. James also showed that his defensive awareness is improving with every game as he raced around in front of Hunt at the far post to clear Marek Matejowski’s curling cross to safety.

The best chance of the first half fell midway through the half. From one of Saints’ many corners, the ball fell kindly to McGoldrick on the penalty spot and his snap shot certainly didn’t lack power as it smashed against the underside of the crossbar, which was probably still shaking five minutes later.

Reading were starting to get frustrated, and this was reflected by bookings for Doyle and Matejowski for cynical late challenges on James and Simon Gillett respectively shortly before half-time.

Ryan Smith, of whom I’d been singing the praises in the pub before the game after his excellent performance at Plymouth, was replaced after a pretty disappointing first half by Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Saints continued at the pace they’d been setting in the first half and some desperate defending and perfectly-timed tackles by Michael Duberry and Ivar Ingimarsson came between McGoldrick, Paterson and Wright-Phillips and the Reading goal.

Ten minutes into the second half, Lee Holmes was replaced with Kayne McLaggon, who had made his senior debut at Plymouth and looked lively, and he slotted in wide on the right-hand side.

On the hour, Paterson had a great chance to score his first senior goal as a deep cross by James found him unmarked on the edge of the area but his side-footed volley didn’t have enough power to trouble Federici who made a comfortable save. That was to be Paterson’s last action of the game as he was replaced by Jason Euell in an attempt to inject a bit more pace and power up front.

Reading made a double substitution replacing Matejowski and Brynjar Gunnarsson with James Harper and Kalifa Cisse in the heart of their midfield. This seemed to actually give Saints a bit of a boost as they both took a little while to get into the game, and just three minutes later they took full advantage. Kayne McLaggon embarked on a determined run from inside the Saints half, evading challenges from both Harper and Cisse as well as Stephen Hunt, and then slipped a perfectly-weighted through-ball between the two centre-backs for McGoldrick to run on to. He took a touch to steady himself and then slotted the ball under Federici to make it 1-0. It was McGoldrick’s first goal in 11 games and for that reason alone he won’t have been too bothered about the yellow card he received for taking his shirt off in celebration.

Reading boss Steve Coppell made his last available substitution by replacing left-back Chris Armstrong with striker Noel Hunt in an all-out attacking move to rescue the game for the Royals. It almost paid instant dividends when Hunt won a free-kick out wide and the delivery by his brother Stephen found Duberry unmarked at the far post but his first touch was abysmal and ran out for a goal kick.

With Saints now happy to play on the counter-attack, McGoldrick and Wright-Phillips were looking to exploit the space against a three-man defence as often as possible. Wright-Phillips fed McGoldrick 25 yards out and he jinked past Ingimarsson into the area but was unable to get his shot past the covering Liam Rosenior.

A minute later, Reading’s additional pressure and attacking numbers was rewarded when Stephen Hunt’s wide free-kick was nodded down by Duberry and Long got to the ball just before the previously untroubled Kelvin Davis to nod it into the gaping goal for a barely-deserved equaliser.

It nearly got worse for Saints as Stephen Hunt was again involved. His deep cross found the head of Kevin Doyle but the ball crashed against the crossbar and away to safety. Saints immediately broke away and had a strong appeal for a penalty waved away after Duberry appeared to handle the ball in the area after McLaggon tried to engineer a bit of space for a shot. To be fair to referee Phil Crossley, his view of the incident would have been blocked by at least one player, but his assistant on the Kingsland side should have had a near-perfect view. Unfortunately, when you’re struggling, those decisions do have a habit of going against you.

With both sides going all-out for victory at the end, a lot of space was being created at either end, and Kevin Doyle almost won it for Reading in injury time when he wriggled free of Chris Perry’s attention but Davis was able to turn his shot over the bar for a corner.

That was it, and on the face of it a draw against the team in second place isn’t a bad result. However, put in context with the results obtained by Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers today, it’s now left us second from bottom in the Championship. It was a decent performance today, and hopefully the players will take that as a positive rather than the late dropping of points that has now happened in two of the last three home games. That said, it makes a pleasant change to actually have a lead at home to lose, rather than just losing the game! The next two league games, at Barnsley and against Doncaster at St Mary’s, are going to be critical to our survival in this division this season.

For me, the only disappointing performance was from Ryan Smith, who was well and truly found out by a Reading defence who had done their homework. Matt Paterson led the line well in the second half but clearly tired in the second, which was reflected in the lack of power and conviction in the shot he had just before he was substituted.

David McGoldrick’s goal was just reward for a hard-working shift today, and it’s not often I’ve been able to say that about his performances this season. If he can put in the workrate like he has today, he’ll be rewarded with more goals, in my opinion. He’s shown he’s got plenty of ability, but there remain question marks over his attitude and commitment.

It was also good to see that the players can perform in front of a big crowd. The attendance of 20,142 was the second-highest of the season and, while the Forest game was a massive let-down, hopefully some of those who were there who haven’t been going to games regularly will respond to today by turning up to the Doncaster game. The United game on Sunday is obviously a big game in terms of its prestige, but we go into that game with absolutely nothing to lose, so I don’t think we should really read anything into the performance we put in or the result there.

A Bradley Wright-Phillips brace gave Saints a memorable and thoroughly deserved victory at high-flying Reading.

Jan Poortvliet was forced into a number of changes from the side narrowly beaten by league leaders Wolves last week. Alex Pearce was unable to face his parent club and Olly Lancashire didn’t recover from the injury sustained last week, so Chris Perry and Lloyd James both earned recalls at the back with Jack Cork moving from right back into the centre of defence. Wright-Phillips’ decent second-half performance as a sub against Wolves also earned him a starting place in place of Oscar Gobern, while Jordan Robertson replaced the suspended Jason Euell. Robertson was the lone front-man with David McGoldrick playing in the hole just behind him. Romain Gasmi was named among the substitutes for his first taste of first-team action, and the team were backed by more than 3500 Saints fans behind the goal.

Reading had looked unbeatable at home in the Championship, having gone 30 league games at this level since their last home defeat, and they started the brighter. Irish brothers Noel and Stephen Hunt combined well and the latter looked odds-on to score but his goalbound effort was cleared off the line by Cork.

At this stage it looked as though we could be in for a long afternoon, but to the players’ credit, that was the last we saw of the Royals as an attacking threat in the first half. Saints felt they should have had a penalty soon afterwards, Robertson made a break towards goal and Reading’s American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann came racing out. Robertson got a toe-end on the ball to knock it past Hahnemann who clattered into him, but the referee waved away the appeals.

Morgan Schneiderlin came close shortly after as his shot was deflected over by Ivar Ingimarsson, and Rudi Skacel blazed over from the resulting corner. Saints weren’t to be denied for much longer, though, as they took the lead on 14 minutes. Reading only half-cleared the ball as far as Lloyd James on the right wing and his curling far post cross was met by a prestigious leap by Wright-Phillips who headed the ball across Hahnemann into the far corner.

Hahnemann was in the thick of the action again soon after as he denied McGoldrick, Wright-Phillips and Adam Lallana in quick succession, and the Royals were indebted to their keeper and captain for keeping them in touching distance in the first half.

Given Reading’s home record in recent years, you would have thought they couldn’t play as badly again in the second half, so Saints would have been braced for a bit of an onslaught. However, it soon transpired that if it was going to come, it would be from a two-goal deficit rather than a single goal disadvantage. Andrew Surman intercepted from James Harper and burst forward, feeding the ball left to Wright-Phillips, who cut inside Liam Rosenior and unleashed a fierce drive from 20 yards into the bottom corner.

Reading boss Steve Coppell responded by replacing Kalilou Cisse with Marek Matejowski, and they got a route back into the game shortly afterwards. Kevin Doyle worked a bit of space on the left for a shot which was parried by Kelvin Davis, but only into the path of Mali international Jimmy Kebe who slotted the ball in through the legs of the covering Rudi Skacel.

The hosts were starting to get a bit of momentum and they had the ball in the net for a second time but James Harper’s header was ruled out for offside. While the Royals were pressing for an equaliser, there was always the chance of a Saints counter-attack, and Cork released McGoldrick in the right-hand channel and his shot was well saved again by Hahnemann. Reading’s top scorer Kevin Doyle, who had been kept pretty quiet all afternoon, then had a glorious chance to equalise when he had a free header 8 yards out but he could only put the ball over the bar to great relief behind the goal.

4 minutes of injury time were found from nowhere and in the final minute of it, Reading were awarded a soft free-kick on the left flank (which the referee allowed them to take about 10 yards further forward than where the “foul” actually occurred), and Davis appeared to have trouble dealing with it, opting to punch, but the referee then came to his rescue with the award of a free-kick. The next kick was to be the final one as the whistle blew to end Reading’s long unbeaten home run in the Championship and to give Saints a fourth away win in the league (the same amount we won away from home in the whole of last season) and most importantly a vital three points.

Saints face a tough trip to the Madejski to play free-scoring Reading tomorrow afternoon. The Royals have only dropped two points at home so far this season (a goalless draw against QPR recently) and are averaging 3 goals per game. Not a statistic you really want to be seeing, but one that we’re going to have to overcome if we’re to get anything out of the game.

Saints have only played one competitive game at the Madejski Stadium since it opened in 1998, which was a 2-0 defeat that came as part of Reading’s incredible 33-match unbeaten run to earn them promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history in 2006. We’ve also played a number of pre-season friendlies there, and Saints maintain an unbeaten record in those, but it’s competitive games that count, and we’ve lost on the last three trips to Berkshire - that match in 2006 and two cup upsets in the mid-90s. Overall, our record at Reading isn’t too shabby at all. From 19 league and cup games, we’ve won 6, drawn 5 and lost 8, although with the exception of the 2006 meeting, the two teams haven’t met in the league since 1960.

Reading boast the Championship’s leading scorer in Kevin Doyle. The Irishman has scored 14 goals, 11 of which have come on home soil. The Royals recently paid his former club Cork City an undisclosed sum in settlement of a sell-on clause in his contract in order to save themselves a bit of money in the long-term on the assumption that he will command a hefty transfer fee should they choose or be forced to sell him. Fellow Irishmen Stephen and Noel Hunt have been their other key contributors, weighing in with 5 and 6 goals respectively.

Reading manager Steve Coppell is expected to name an unchanged line-up from the 2-0 win at Sheffield United last week. Centre-back Andre Bikey is expected to have recovered from a knock which prevented him from playing for Cameroon this week.

Alex Pearce, who has already scored two goals for the Saints from centre-back, is ineligible to play against his parent club. Chris Perry will probably replace him. Olly Lancashire is also a doubt after being forced off against Wolves last week, with Paul Wotton his likely replacement if he’s ruled out. Michael Svensson is probably out of contention after being struck down with illness, as has Oscar Gobern.

Jason Euell is also definitely out as he begins a three-match ban after his appeal against the red card given to him last week was rejected. Jordan Robertson and Romain Gasmi are in contention to feature, and Bradley Wright-Phillips will probably get a chance after impressing as a substitute last week.

Saints will be backed by more than 3000 fans after Reading agreed to give us an extra allocation of tickets. The last chance for Saints fans to buy tickets at the normal rate of £23 for adults is at 3pm this afternoon. Any unsold tickets will be available from the Reading ticket office, but with a £4 increase on that price.

Saints only have 450 tickets left from the initial allocation of 2156 for the trip to the Madejski Stadium in two weeks time.

David Luker, head of Supporter Services at SFC, told me that the club has applied to Reading for an additional allocation which could see us take a total allocation of up to 4000 tickets, but this is dependent upon a decision by Reading’s safety officer.

Therefore, for those who have been considering making the relatively short trip up the A34 to that game but who haven’t yet got tickets, I would recommend getting them pretty quickly. It’s likely that the majority of those 450 tickets will be sold before kick-off today and there is no guarantee that more tickets will be forthcoming.

Update: There are now just a handful of the initial allocation remaining, and an extra allocation of 1500 will be arriving at the Ticket Office tomorrow.

Saints have moved to address their defensive frailties by signing 19-year-old centre-back Alex Pearce on loan from Reading.

Pearce has made 8 first-team appearances for the Royals this season and has scored one goal - in a 5-1 Carling Cup win against Luton Town. He made 22 appearances in the Football League last season in loan spells at Bournemouth and Norwich City.

He will be here until 1st January, but will not be eligible to play when Saints face Reading at St Mary’s next month.