The midfielder struck his third and fourth goals of the campaign to maintain the Royals' unbeaten start to 2007 and strengthen their place in the top six.

Villa had enough chances to have salvaged a point but they were denied by a mixture of poor finishing and a solid display from Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Sidwell's goals bookended an inspirational performance, his first - a header from a Stephen Hunt corner - came after only 15 minutes, with his cooly taken second off sealing the game in the dying moments.

One of the teams challenging Reading for those Uefa Cup spots, Tottenham, look to be in freefall meanwhile as they fell 2-1 to Sheffield United at Brammal Lane.

Martin Jol's side had got a dream start when Jermaine Jenas lobbed Paddy Kenny after only three minutes.

However, displaying their typical resilience, Sheffield United fought their way back into the game against a lightweight Spurs.

Just before the half-hour Rob Hulse headed in an equalisier - justice apparently served after the striker's previous header hit the crossbar and seemingly bounced over the line. The game was sealed 15 minutes into the second half when Stephen Quinn was brought down in the area and Phil Jagielka stepped up to hammer in the spot-kick.

At Goodison Park then, Everton continued their fine form, birthday boy Andy Johnson firing in his ninth league goal of the season to give them a 1-0 over Blackburn Rovers. .