JAAP STAM says patience was the key to Reading’s fourth straight win at Madejski Stadium this afternoon.
Royals fine recent form has seen them climb up to third in the Championship table and despite losing 5-0 at Fulham last weekend, they cemented that position with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Roy Beerens bagged a second half brace to seal victory before Steven Fletcher netted a late consolation and after a tough first half, Stam says it was all about waiting for the right moment.
“You need to be patient in these games,” he said.
“Eventually if you’re patient and you don’t want to rush things because the opposition play in a certain way, then spaces will open up.
“And that one time you will get in front of goal and you will get that opportunity and you will score a goal.”
He added: “We spoke about it at half-time and that happened in the second half.
“We get that first one, a bit of luck with the deflection of course but we got there.
“You try to keep it up and go for the second one and we got that one as well with a great goal by Roy Beerens.
“After that you know they are going to be trying to get that goal.
“They play very direct, balls up to the strikers and they have good, strong strikers and everybody needs to do their job defensively and give nothing away.
“If you look at the players and how they played and their commitment, they’ve shown before they can do it and work together and do everything in their power to get a result.”
A drab first half saw chances at either end at a premium but Wednesday should have taken the lead after the break when Lucas Joao wasted a glorious one-on-one opportunity.
But, after soaking up the pressure, Reading got the lead when George Evans teed up Beerens and his left-footed shot from 20 yards flashed in via a big deflection off Glenn Loovens.
And that lead was doubled with 15 minutes to play when Beerens latched onto substitute Yann Kermorgant’s fine flick on and composed himself before sliding a shot past Keiren Westwood.
Fletcher headed in a stoppage time consolation but after a late Al-Habsi save to deny Fletcher a second, Royals took maximum points to move four points clear of fourth place.
And Stam says Beerens, who now has five goals to his name this season, showed exactly what he is capable of.
“We know he’s got that quality,” said the manager.
“He’s very creative and good with the ball at his feet.
“Especially if he plays in a number 10 midfield position then if he gets that ball in between the lines then he gets more time to create more opportunities to score that goal.
“If he plays from the left side then it’s a bit more difficult to get in those positions and score a goal.
“He’s got the qualities to do that, to take a defender on in a one v one and get past him and score a goal.
“We know physically he’s not the strongest player but sometimes you have to be clever as well and that’s what he’s doing.”
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