The Royals cruised into the second round of the FA Cup with a superb 5-0 victory away at Peterborough United on Saturday night.
Daniel Kyerewaa opened the scoring before Jack Marriott doubled Reading’s advantage shortly afterwards. Charlie Savage then netted his first goal of the season to send the Royals into half-time with a commanding 3-0 lead. Jamie Reid added a second-half brace to round off an emphatic win and secure our place in the next round.
Here is what manager Leam Richardson had to say
when he spoke to Royals TV.
Richardson on the response to Wednesday
“Really pleased. Pleased with the clean sheet and really pleased with certain improvements from Wednesday night, which we spoke about coming into this game, because we always want to evolve. We always want to be better as a team.
“I think that’s three times already that we’ve scored five, so credit goes to the players. Really pleased to be in the hat for the next round.
“We’ve got hundreds of Reading fans coming to watch us, and seeing the connection from the stand into the team and vice versa – really, really pleased tonight.”
Richardson on the performance and building consistency
“It’s something we want to keep portraying, keep evolving, keep improving as a team. There were some really good individual performances tonight, and I thought collectively we were really strong in parts as well.
“Now we’ve got to improve from that. We’ve got to improve on certain levels and bring a real consistency into our game, which we’re trying to do.”
Richardson on Charlie Savage
“He debated whether to celebrate or not, but he couldn’t hold it, could he?
“We had a good chat yesterday, myself and Charlie, about the time we’ve worked together and the improvements he’s made within his game, because you can see the quality he’s got.
“He’s a very good player, and I thought he was excellent tonight.”
Richardson on Daniel Kyerewaa
“Daniel’s been patient and been working terrifically hard. He’s some lad. He’s fantastic in the dressing room. His attitude to the staff, to work, to every day – he is absolutely fantastic.
“I really like working with Daniel, and you can see what it means to him when he scores.
“The only disappointment is coming onto his right foot again in the second half. I see him every day, repetition after repetition, putting them in the bottom corner, top corner, and he put it over. He’ll be disappointed, but again, another really good individual performance.”
Richardson on demanding high standards
“I’m very demanding, but with high demand, you’ve got to have high support. I try to support them as best I can and let them know when we dip below the line and the standards that Reading FC needs to go forward as a football club.
“We want to improve. We want to transition. The owners and stakeholders, through Joe, are working tirelessly hard to make sure we improve every day around the football club, especially on the pitch, and build a football club that the fans can be proud of.”
Richardson on Jack Marriott
“We debated whether to start him or have him on the bench and bring him on, but then you’re conscious of going into extra time.
“It’s important that we get Jack up and running because we know how important he is. He’s so deadly. You see the connection he’s got with Haydon as well.
“He’s great around the group, never mind what he’s like on the pitch. He’s fantastic to work with, really demanding of himself. He can be a bit moody sometimes when he doesn’t score goals, but that’s what you want from your strikers because you want everybody pushing. I thought he was excellent tonight.”
Richardson on Jamie Reid’s first Reading goals
“Made up for Jamie. He’s come in and probably not had the minutes he needs, wants and craves. He’s used to playing every single week, but when you’re coming into a new group, a new environment and a new way of playing, I think he’s taken the information in really well.
“With the hard work they’re putting in, strikers and flair players want to make sure they have chances and opportunities at the other end of the pitch, and tonight he had that.
“I thought his first goal was excellent. The technique, the calmness, leading into his second goal as well. Just disappointed he didn’t get a third; he was inches away.”
Richardson on the second-round draw
“At home, three o’clock! Whatever the fans want, let’s give them something.”
Richardson on creating some FA Cup magic
“You’d hope so. If you put in performances like that, and your focus, consistency, levels and habits are all really strong, you can win most games.
“That’s what we’re craving, so fingers crossed.”
Richardson on another busy week
“Another three-game week, another week of travelling. It’s important that we look at both games and see what the fallout is after tonight, obviously from Wednesday as well, into Tuesday, and then look to Saturday.
“All systems go. We’ll try to be as diligent as we can to organise everything, get on the road and hopefully have a really positive result Tuesday leading into Saturday as well.”
