The Royals climbed back into the playoffs with an excellent 3-0 victory against Wigan Athletic at the SCL Stadium on Saturday.
A brace from Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and a Wigan own goal secured the points in an overall good performance for the Royals.
Reading are now sixth with Stevenage one point behind, but Stevenage have two games in hand. First-team coach James Beattie was on media duty. Here is what he had to say, he spoke to Royals TV.
Beattie on the victory
“After last week’s disappointment, the fans stuck with us, they
were good today and we were good as well, so very happy.
“From the team, the collective, and from certain individuals as well, they came back really strong today with some really good performances. I’d be happy with the clean sheet and three goals.
“They’ve played well and they’re a good team since Gary [Caldwell]’s gone in there and we knew that it was going to be a tough game, but we said to the lads today that we need to work hard in possession, out of possession, and I thought both of them things, we executed very well today, and yeah, it was a great result.”
Beattie on Leam Richardson
“He’s not been well all week, but he turned up today and saw the team put in a great performance.”
Beattie on Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan
“Kelvin’s been working hard, he’s listening to what we’re saying and taken up some much better positions in the box which suit his profile. On the deliveries, he’s got to be in the right position and with his physique he’s going to be hard to stop if he gets in the air.
“I think it’s the impact of everybody, you know, obviously the gaffer and then the coaching staff. But I think my career and people say I’ve had success before with it.
“Like I say, we’re doing work with all the players, trying to improve them, but obviously in Jack [Marriott]’s absence has stepped up and hopefully can continue in this form. If he keeps listening and keeps working hard, he’ll get there.”
Beattie on Daniel Kyerewaa’s return
“Daniel’s a big asset to the squad and the team. He’s a ball carrier and 1v1, I told him before the game he needs to sort of try and remember where he was feeling because he was in a rich vein of form before he got injured and he was tremendously upset, which all the players are when they get injured.
“He needed to show that aggression and today, again, he worked tremendously hard for 80 minutes and then he blew a gasket, so we just try and look after him and hopefully his performances can continue.”
Beattie on the games ahead
“The lads have got the structure, and they enjoy the way we play, or we try and play, and as I say, the work goes into the weekend. It’s a tough game, but we look ahead.
“The Stevenage result hurt us and we were disappointed, so we wanted to come back stronger and give the fans something to shout about and show more of what we’re about and perform like us. The game against Huddersfield and Lincoln the following Monday will be no different.
“We’ll take it steady. We’re just trying to maintain or trying to find some sort of consistency in performances, and if we do that, then I think we’ll be OK and we’ll be competitive in games, as we’ve seen today. We’ll just keep working hard and see what the games bring us.”
