Stam: Good Football Went Out The Window As Reading FC Beat Wolves

The Royals returned to winning form yesterday afternoon with a gritty 2-1 victory at the Madejski Stadium against a tough Wolves side.

After a pretty dull first half, Reading took the lead in fortunate fashion after Danny Williams' shot was turned in by Yann Kermorgant. Wolves equalised almost immediately, before Paul McShane scored the winner 12 minutes from time from a John Swift free kick.

We are now fifth after Leeds won Friday evening, and Jaap Stam admitted that the Royals want to remain in the top six, he told the official Club website, "We're very happy with the three points.

"In this period and with where we are in the league, going towards the end of the season, you need to win your points. We're in the top six and we want to stay up there.

"We know it's going to be very hard. Wolves came to get a result and they set up defensively in the first half. And they grew in confidence when they got their equaliser in the second half, and they made it hard for us to defend in the box when they went forward.

"By not playing good football in the second half, we still scored from a free-kick - and that's a quality as well. We've got someone who can put the ball in the box with quality like Swifty, and we've got someone who can finish it off with a good header like McShane.

"So we're very happy with the three points. We would like to have a better feeling about the game overall and how we played, but at this moment and with where we are, points are very important."

Wolves were tough opponents and made things tough in the second half, but captain fantastic McShane got a much needed winner to get an important three points to remain in fifth, seven points ahead of Fulham in seventh.

"Sometimes we need to understand that if we have problems in keeping the ball and we're trying to play out from the back, then sometimes it's a better solution to play more directly up to Yann and try to win that second ball and then start playing," he added.

"And the players need to see that themselves when they are in the game. But the players have worked very hard and they work hard in every game, and it's tough because the pitch is heavy. But we got the result and that's the most important thing today.

"You score that goal to go ahead, and you want to score even more to make it an easy game. But they get one straight after - they blocked the ball forward with a hand and I think the referee can give that as a hand-ball. He didn't do it, and I think we can still defend better.

"They scored that goal and it gave them confidence and they pressed us higher up the pitch. Sometimes we have to be a bit more clever when the opponents are doing that. We tried to keep on playing but couldn't get into our game.

"So you need to take any opportunities you get when you get in front of their goal - even if that's set pieces. And we did that today, so we're very happy with that."

Next up for the Royals is a tough fixture against the Championship leaders Newcastle on Tuesday night at the Madejski Stadium.