TYLER Frost grabbed a hat-trick as Reading FC Under 23s defeated Birmingham City 3-0 to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games in all competitions.

Frost struck three times in the second half at Royals brushed the Blues aside in the Premier League Cup at Woking FC last night.

Scott Marshall’s hosts were quick out of the blocks and saw Ben House test Birmingham keeper Connal Trueman after good work from Callum Harriott and Conor Lawless.

Royals were relieved to see keeper Luke Southwood and wing-back Teddy Howe back on their feet after both required lengthy treatment on the pitch.

House went close again soon after when he headed narrowly wide from Harriott’s cross.

Blues rarely threatened in the first half and the closest they came was a Ryan Burke header that failed to hit the target during a goalless first half.

Reading’s frustrations continued after the break as Blues dug in, with Andre Burley heading straight at Trueman.

But their patience was rewarded when they finally broke the deadlock midway through the second half, Frost racing onto a Michael Olise pass before slotting past Trueman for a 1-0 lead.

Southwood made a stunning save moments later to keep Reading in front, but Marshall’s youngsters were soon back on the front foot and doubled their lead on 73 minutes.

They won a penalty when Kyle Anderson hacked down Howe and Frost made no mistake from the resulting spot-kick.

Royals withstood late Blues pressure before grabbing an injury-time third with their second penalty of the game.

This time, House was bundled over in the Blues area and Frost fired past Trueman again to seal his hat-trick and another impressive victory which keeps Reading level on points with Fulham at the top of their Premier League Cup group.

Reading return to Premier League 2 Division 2 action on Friday, November 23 when they host Fulham at Woking’s Kingfield Stadium (7pm ko).

Reading U23: Southwood, Howe, Medford-Smith, Burley, McIntyre, East (c), Frost, Lawless (Sidoel 85), Olise (Nolan 66), Harriott, House. Subs not used: Driscoll, Odimayo, Liddle. Booked: East, Frost.

Birmingham City U23: Trueman, Forrest, Burke, McGilp (Martin 70), Bajrami (c), Redmond, McCoy, Gardner (Hurst 70), Andrews (Baker 86), McFarlane, Anderson. Subs not used: Luyambula, Concannon.