Reading manager Ruben Selles knows that his team can still improve facets of their game after seeing off Bristol Rovers 1-0 at the SCL Stadium to secure a third successive victory in League One.
Rovers keeper Josh Griffiths kept his side in the game with a string of fine saves in the first half.
But after Rovers’ Shaq Forde had been sent off for a second yellow card early in the second half, Sam Smith pounced in the 66th minute.
Smith’s fifth goal of the season clinched a sixth home league win this term for Royals, who had to fend off a determined late rally from Rovers.
“We’re still taking one step at a time, one game at a time, but I think that we controlled the game from the very beginning,” Selles said.
“We scored after Rovers had a man sent off and then, in the last 10 minutes, they went more direct.
“We should have controlled that a bit better but things happen and we’ll take the three points.
“We again showed that we are competitive and that we are a very difficult team to beat. But I did expect us to control it a bit better at the end.
“I think that we can all agree that, in those moments, when a team gets the ball in the box, they can create some things.
“Rovers did that but we defended as a team and we had a goalkeeper [Joe Pereira] there and his job is to keep the ball out of the net. And that’s what he did today.”
Rovers manager Matt Taylor was unhappy with Forde’s dismissal.
He ignored the player as he walked down the tunnel after his red card and refused to discuss the issue after the game.
“In all honesty, it’s probably best that I don’t comment on that moment,” Taylor said.
“But the team reacted fantastically well and we had to. We went down to 10 men and also went a goal down but I was still so proud of the team.
“Perhaps we could have, should have, got a point at the end. We deserved to. We certainly felt a connection between us and the fans and I hope that we can now pick that up and take it to a new level.
“People talk about formations but it does my head in – and I’m a manager.
“You just run as hard as possible and you do the basics of the game really well. So it’s irrelevant what formation we play.
“At the end, that was everything that we want from a Bristol Rovers team. We went to another level of player desire.
”I think our fans appreciated that and we appreciated them today. They were in good voice.”
