The Royals secured their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 victory against Stevenage on Tuesday night.
Reading were 2-0 up at half-time with goals through Jacob Brown and Paddy Lane, before Randell Williams scored late to make it 3-0 and secure our place in the next round.
Here is what Royals boss Leam Richardson had to say, he spoke to Royals TV.
Richardson on the victory
“I am really pleased. Within the game we had some strong individual performances and collectively we were very good.
“[After] the first
half we deservedly went into the break 2-0 up. They started the second half better than us, but we expected that. You have to have a period where you defend the box and win your duels, and we came through that really strong.
“We started really bright and had the impetus to go forward and [be] a threat in their back line. We deserved to go one up and two up.
“We had to build from Saturday; we were frustrated as we felt it was one that got away and one we had to win. If you look at the positives, two back-to-back clean sheets and a solid base to push forward. We go into a bit of a break but we will soon turn our attention to Mansfield.
“You always want your forward players scoring goals and three of them have done that tonight, which is fantastic. They have to come under pressure.
“On Saturday we created enough moments where our flair players have to come to the party and finish the job. It was frustrating on Saturday, but we will keep working. Competition for places is everything and that will do no harm.
“I have spoken before; to push on and be successful you have to have a squad who are aligned and want to support each other.
“People talk a lot about culture, but it doesn’t happen overnight, it is something that happens gradually. We are on the right track and trying to push forward. It is my job to push the culture of this football club back to where it needs to be.”
Richardson on Conor Masterson
“He had come into train, John [Coleman] has worked with him at Gillingham, and we know he has been around for a while.
“At 27, probably the only thing to hold him back is injuries. He has been in every day and when we were short at Charlton away, we didn’t have to ask him twice, he put his boots on and was on the coach.
“He has been in every day and this week we have had a few knocks and bruises, we are probably a bit shorter than we would like, but it was always something we were looking to do because we need depth, experience and leaders. Conor will bring that.
“With his aerial presence in both boxes and his experience, I thought he was excellent tonight.”
