JAAP STAM said he was happy with how his side controlled the game during their comfortable 3-0 win over Burton Albion at Madejski Stadium.
Royals took a 2-0 lead into half-time courtesy of Dominic Samuel and Danny Williams strikes before a late John Brayford own goal sealed the victory.
And Stam was pleased with the afternoon’s work, particularly the first half showing.
“After the first couple of minutes, we controlled the game,” said the manager.
“We dominated, created chances and went forward when we needed to but kept possession as well when we had to.
“We scored two great goals, very happy with that, and especially with the performance in the first half.”
He added: “I think we didn’t play the second half as we could and as we did in the first half.
“I don’t know if that was because of the 2-0 that players think sometimes they can take it easy a bit and then we’ll get our moments again and score that third one.
“I told them after the game they need to be on their toes for 95 minutes, you need to be sharp, you need to be aggressive because you don’t want to concede goals, you want to score them and you want to finish the game off as quick as you can.”
Academy product Samuel took just 22 minutes of his first Reading league start to find the net after getting the nod due to Yann Kermorgant being ruled out with a knee injury.
But it was not just the youngster’s goal which caught Stam’s eye.
“Dom is a talented, young player,” he said.
“With his pace and if he makes his runs at the right time then he’s a threat for everybody.
“He helps us out going forward as well and that’s what he showed today.
“He scored a goal, worked very hard and I’m very happy with that performance.”
But the worry of the day comes in the form of yet more injury concerns.
As well as Kermorgant, Joey van den Berg has also joined the growing list of sidelined stars which also includes Stephen Quinn, Anssi Jaakkola (both knee), Deniss Rakels and John Swift (both ankle).
“Yann is injured on his knee,” explained Stam.
“It happened in the game against Wigan and we are not quite sure how long he is going to be out for.
“It’s a former injury that he already had there and it occurred again so it is a bit of a chronic problem that he has.
“He had an injection in that knee as well so he’s going to be out for a couple of weeks – he could be out for a little bit longer.”
He continued: “Joey has a knee injury as well.
“He got it a couple of weeks ago in a game.
“He’s got a problem with one of the ligaments in his knee.
“He tried to train last week, he had a couple of passes and a shot at goal and then came straight back so he’s been out for a couple of weeks as well.
“Hopefully maybe next week he can join the group but we’re not sure about that.”
