Brian McDermott "We Had To Be Patient"

A superb comeback for the Royals last night made manager Brian McDermott a happy man. After a poor start being 2-0 down in 20 minutes, Huddersfield went down to 10 men and the fightback started.

A hat-trick from Matej Vydra and goals from Lucas Piazon and Alex Fernandez secured an excellent 5-2 victory and a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

McDermott told the official club website: "That's how you play against ten men.

"We had to be patient, but we passed it well, made things happen, we could have scored more than five to be honest.

"You look back at the first 20 minutes, it wasn't good, we weren't at it. We have to do better than that first 20 minutes, we know that. And they're a good team, we knew that from the first game at their place. They played well, but their player was rightly sent off for fouling Vydra after a great bit of skill from him.

"And I'd have to agree that the sending off was a big moment... and then Lucas put the ball down and put it in the top corner, a terrific free kick which got us on our way straight after the red card.

"The fans were terrific, they stayed patient - you can get frustrated when you're 2-0 down at home, and we don't want to be going behind, home or away. We want to make sure we're more resilient than that. And we came through it tonight and got through to the next round."

Vydra was brilliant last night for the Royals, scoring his first hat-trick for the club but he also won the free kick that got the Royals back into the game and Huddersfield down to 10 men, McDermott added: "Matej got himself a hat-trick and I was delighted for him. Him winning that free-kick was the turning point and Lucas putting the free kick away - we see him do that in training all the time, a terrific free kick.

"He started to find space, Vyds was finding space. They sat in, did what they had to do. And I've been involved in a lot of games when a team has been down to ten men and we've struggled to break them down. This team didn't. This team can play against 10 men, pass it around, get the spare man in.

"Matej works his socks off, he's never hidden, he's always working hard. If he misses chances, I just said. 'Don't worry about it. You're a proven scorer. Play with a smile on your face, and if you miss chances, who cares? It's not an issue. Just keep doing what you're doing. You're working your socks off, you've never hidden, you try every game to the utmost.'

"He's a good guy and I speak to him regularly. I don't need to speak up for him. His performances speak for themselves. He really wants to do well and tonight he has. He's got the match ball and I'm absolutely delighted for him tonight."

Fernandez came on in the second half and scored the fifth goal to end a brilliant evening, McDermott said: "Alex coming on, he played well, kept the ball really well, calmed us down, and then scoring a great goal. He's a top professional, a great guy and so I was delighted for him as well.

"Alex is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. He trains right, he lives his life right, and he joins in. He's been very much a part of what we're trying to do here, everyone together, and I can't speak highly enough of him."

Now back to league action on Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday at the Madejski Stadium. "I've just said to the players that we've got to start enjoying our football. It's a big game for us again on Saturday, we go back to the league and try to get the points against a Sheffield Wednesday side on a very good run at the moment. I'm looking forward to it."