Clarke: "I'm absolutely delighted for Hal"

Steve Clarke was undoubtedly delighted with yesterday’s performance by his players which saw us progress to the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Clarke was also happy with the impact that Hal Robson-Kanu made when he came off the bench to score the winner, something that us Reading fans have missed from the Welshman in previous months.

He told Reading FC Player: "I was absolutely delighted for Hal, he came off the bench and did what I ask of all my subs, to have an impact. It’s great to see, especially here in Cardiff which I’m sure he enjoyed."

Something that the fans will appreciate is honesty, and Clarke has brought that with abundance since he has come to the club. Again he was honest enough to admit that yesterday’s first half performance wasn’t quite up to scratch.

"I was delighted with the team in the second half. Being honest I was disappointed in the first half, we coasted along, Cardiff punished us from a set play and there was no real reaction, the only reaction was from our supporters.

"We had a chat at half time, made a slight change to the system, nothing you would notice but it was quite effective."

A few months ago, going in at half time losing 1-0 would have seen the players heads go down, but in recent weeks this has really changed and Clarke noticed this yesterday too. He said: "The biggest change though was the attitude, the mentality, and the second half was the Reading team I wanted to see going forward."

Clarke throughout his interview kept talking about the fans' amazing support and how this kept the team going. "We kept driving on and deserved to go through. Hopefully the supporters, who made a lot of noise, just like they did at Fulham, will go home happy."

With an FA Cup weekend that has seen shocks and surprises, it really is anyone’s cup for the taking, but Clarke was still eager to keep a calm head on proceedings, "Not everyone has gone out! You just have to see who you get and try and progress."

We now move on to a huge game on Tuesday night against Millwall, and Clarke knows how important this fixture is, having already spoken this week on how we could be sucked into a relegation battle if we’re not careful. Three points is a must on Tuesday night.

Clarke said: "It’s a big game, we want three points from it and we want to take momentum into it. We want a winning mentality, not rolling over, not dropping silly points, hopefully this is a step."

It’s another big week for Reading FC but with Clarke’s honesty and calm head, I can see more positive results coming our way.