Jaap Stam: "I think we deserved the win"

A fantastic win over in Wales for the Royals yesterday afternoon with a late winner from Yann Kermorgant to claim all three points against Cardiff and our first away win of the season.

It goes without saying, Jaap Stam was very happy. Cardiff had the better of the first half, but the Royals stepped up in the second half and bagged the winner. The boss told the official club website:

"That's what we're looking for. Wins!

"I think we deserved the win as well, with how we played. We had a lot of possession, there was a lot of movement within the team - we've been working hard on that since that start of the season.

"We haven't always got the win when we've played well, but today we did. We created chances again, playing against a side who are physically strong, who didn't give much space away for us to pass the ball through.

"But we kept our patience. They got frustrated, especially in the second half, and that's what we wanted."

Liam Moore and Tyler Blackett made their league debuts and along with Paul McShane earned a brilliant clean sheet. The defensive display hugely impressed Stam, who added:

"We were very sharp in how we defended. After the first 15 minutes, they pressed us a bit high up, won the ball in midfield a couple of times, got themselves in front of goal a couple of times but after that we picked it up and controlled the game - especially in the second half.

"Away from home, you know it's not going to be easy because your opponent wants the ball. They play the ball straight up to their strikers, who try to hold it and play in their midfielders. But I think we did very well today. We created chances and it soon looked like we'd only need that one goal.

"I'm very proud of the players and what they've learned in the last couple of weeks. The passion that they put into the game today, the effort they have put into a different style of play.

"If you keep on doing it, keep believing in it, keep working hard and keep your patience, eventually you' l start winning games. That is what we did today.

"It's always nice to win games. Like everybody, I want to have success. Everybody wants to win games, climb higher in the table with their team. So I am delighted."

We now head into the international break, but when we return, there are two home fixtures against Ipswich Town and Birmingham City.

"We're not used to have a break to be fair, because the games kept on coming," said Stam.

"It would be nice to have an extra couple of days training with the complete group, because you want to improve the style of playing.

"But players have been called up for international duty and that's a good thing as well. And although it means we can't work o our way of playing, we can improve players individually - and that's what we're going to be doing over the next two weeks.

"We'll still be working very hard... but we might get a couple of days off as well..."