Jose Gomes says Reading deserved their victory over Preston.
The Royals won 2-1 at the Mad Stad thanks to goals from Yakou Meite and Mo Barrow to move four points clear of the relegation zone.
RATINGS: Barrow and Miazga impress
Here is what Gomes said after the win.
On the win…
I am happy with the players’ effort. They really followed the plan from the beginning. We were very solid defensively and we attacked with a lot of danger. In the first half we could’ve scored another goal with a very good shot from Ovie. It was a very important three points for us against a team that in the last 12 games have not lost and won the last six away games. Those results speak for themselves, they are a very tough team. My players did very well. We deserved the three points. But we know that it is just three points, we have a long way in front of us.
On the second half…
Barrow and Swift had problems. When I changed and made it a five-man defensive line, especially in the beginning we gave a lot of space in the middle and they were using this space to make long balls into our box. When I changed the midfield triangle for Ovie to play in front of Andy and Baker, we reduced this space a bit and created some dangerous counter attacks with Meite, Ovie and G (McCleary). We cannot forget the number of points we’ve already lost in the last five minutes so I decided to protect the team, block the result and keep the three points with us.
On Rinomhota’s return…
When we have a lot of injured players it can be a problem. Andy returned very well. He’s an energy player, he always gives a big boost when he’s not feeling any pain.
On Nelson Oliveira returning to the bench…
Before the game started I wanted to get the result without needing him, I didn’t want to use him because he only trained a few minutes with us. But he’s very strong mentally and he wanted to help the team. For everything he suffered this season he deserved to be on the bench. Now we have one week more to work with him and for sure he will be better next Saturday than today. He is on the same crazy level as me so I think he can play, we will see.
On moving four points clear…
We cannot think like that. We must prepare the next game very well. Even for one second we cannot think we can breathe and relax. It’s a tough fight until the end of the season.
On Paul McShane’s first appearance since August…
The first three balls, the things didn’t work very well. After that he felt the noise from the stands each time that the ball went to his zone. But in the end he helped the team. He said that with his energy he is alive.
During training he is a very positive guy. He is full of energy and gives everything. He helps the young players and he deserved to be a solution in this game and I think he was. All the bad things that we saw in today’s game was my responsibility, not McShane’s responsibility.
