Ruthless Reading punished a string of Mansfield mistakes to cruise to a 5-1 win.

The Stags, still not mathematically safe, played well for long spells but gifted goals to a grateful Royals side on a roll.

The only effort on target of the first half saw Reading punish a 35th-minute mistake by Louis Reed, who gifted a loose pass to Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and he set up Jayden Wareham for a precision finish from just outside the box.

Half-time substitute George Williams gifted Reading a second within four minutes of coming on. His poor clearance set up Charlie Savage for a shot that Christy Pym did well to parry only to see Williams turn the ball into his own net.

On 57 minutes Keanu Baccus gave the ball away on the left and Lewis Wing looked up from 25 yards and smashed an unstoppable finish into the top left corner.

Stags replied five minutes later as Reed slipped Baccus in down the middle and the Australia international finished low inside the right post.

But yet another home error led to another Reading goal as Pym’s poor kick went to Savage, who fed Wing. His low shot came back off the post and Wareham was on hand to poke in from close range.

In the last of five added minutes Harvey Knibbs cut out Deji Oshilaja’s backpass and cued up Billy Bodin for a tap-in.