The Royals returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Notts County at the SCL Stadium on Saturday.
A Jack Marriott brace secured all three points on a great afternoon for Reading, with the result moving Leam Richardson’s side up to eighth in the table, just outside the play-off places with a game in hand.
Here’s what the Royals boss had to say when he spoke to Royals TV after the final whistle.
Richardson on the performance
“I’m really pleased. If I’m honest, I didn’t think we started the game very well. I was a bit disappointed.
“I had my thoughts at half-time with the players, and so did they. We were a little bit bitter with how we started the game because it’s not us.
“But then I thought we finished the first half really strongly and took that into the second half. So, really pleased with the result and absolutely made up with the clean sheet.”
Richardson on the slow start
“Just our distances, our intent, the fundamentals and the basics of football. Trying to get up to the ball, win your races, get connected as soon as we can and be the first team to make sure we do our jobs first.
“It was as though we felt we could turn up and ease our way into the game. We can’t do that in this league.
“If we want to be a consistent team and make sure we’re a good version of ourselves all the time, we have to make sure we do the fundamentals correctly from the first minute, not just the 91st minute.
“We all agreed at half-time what we wanted, and thankfully we went out and executed just that.”
Richardson on the second-half response
“I thought the goals were excellent from our point of view. I thought we controlled a lot of the game and we probably could have, should have, won by a different scoreline.
“But I’m really, really happy with the lads who started and the lads who came onto the pitch again and raised the levels.
“We’ve got a squad at the minute where we had a couple of players who were out of the squad. It’s great for me to have the options, but it hurts me that I can’t pick everybody every week.
“They’re training really hard every day because, like I said to the players, some players win you games. A really good squad who support each other has consistency and has success in the league.”
Richardson on Marriott’s brace
“I think the two crosses are excellent, aren’t they? Even by Jack’s standards, he didn’t have to do that much with them. He had to be there in the right space at the right time and then execute with his timing.
“He’s deadly, isn’t he? If you give him the service, he’ll make sure he puts it in the back of the net.
“We’ve worked hard with Jack from towards the end of last season, in the off-season and coming into this season because we want more minutes and more games from him.
“The lads behind him are pushing him hard as well. Jacob Brown and Jamie Reid are pushing him hard, so he needs to keep on the boil, as everybody else does.”
Richardson on the performances this week
“I thought we had some really good individual performances again.
“I think all three performances this week have been at a good level, from Cambridge into Brentford and then today. We probably deserved to possibly get something out of all three, but that’s football sometimes.
“You’ve got to stay with your habits. Like I said to the players at half-time, what’s our type when we’re getting questioned and when we aren’t at our best?
“Are we going to do different things, or are we going to go with our strong habits, be a really good team, demand off each other and go and get a victory?
“That’s what we did, thankfully.”
Richardson on the clean sheet
“We know we didn’t keep as many last year as certainly I would like. We know the numbers. If you want to get out of this division, you need 12 minimum, going into 15.
“That’s the pressure not just on Joel and Jack and the defenders. It comes from the top end of the pitch with how we want to play.
“We want to play with intensity regardless of what moment we’re in. As a team, we’ll defend together and we’ll attack together, and we’ll get the plaudits in equal measure.”
Richardson on the supporters
“We spoke before the game about how difficult it was for people to get here. We actually came quite early with the players as well, at 11 o’clock, and didn’t go to the training ground.
“We came straight here so everybody could get to the stadium because we knew how difficult it was.
“Thankfully, the fans got here in their numbers again and I thought they were excellent throughout the game.
“We really appreciate how hard it was for them to get here, and hopefully the journey home is a little bit easier.”
