JOEY van den Berg relived his wondergoal as Reading FC saw off a subpar Barsnley FC in a 3-0 win at Madejski Stadium last night (Tuesday).

The 31-year-old Dutchman drove at the defence before unleashing a 30-yard piledriver into the top corner.

His strike came between Dave Edwards' opener and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson's late header, helping Royals rise to 16th place in the Championship table.

It was Van den Berg's second goal for Jaap Stam's team since he joined in June 2016, but the 31-year-old insisted he has plenty more in his locker.

"If you don't shoot you don't score. I felt I was in the right spot.

"I've tried before and it wasn't successful but this time it went in.

"When I was younger I played a bit higher up the pitch and often found myself in that situation.

"I knew that I can do it but I don't often find myself in that position."

Tuesday's victory was Royals' second clean sheet in a row following a bore goalless draw against Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday.

Van den Berg admitted Reading performed better against the Owls, but lacked their finishing prowess.

"We finished the chances against Barnsley," he asserted.

"It wasn't a good performance but overall the result was brilliant.

"We have to take confidence because it was a very good result and it pushes us up the table.

"The table is still very close together but if you want to go forward you need to keep winning, especially against the teams around us.

"It was our second clean sheet in a row. If we get clean sheets then I'm 90 per cent sure that we are going to win."

Reading have struggled for momentum this season and in fact have not won more than two games on the spin.

But Van den Berg is confident Royals' worst form is behind them and urged his teammates to look forward.

"We always knew what we could do," he stated.

"When the results are negative it's hard to feel good.

"But when you win games you get more confidence.

"December is going to be a massive because we have games coming up in a short period.

"But if we get a good run of results then we're going to be up there."

Royals travel to the north-east on Friday ahead of Saturday's clash against Chris Coleman's lowly Sunderland.

And Van den Berg admitted he is relishing the prospect of facing former Royals loanee Lewis Grabban, who has been in scintillating form for the Black Cats despite their league position.

"You have to be careful, you can't just look at the table," stressed Van den Berg.

"They have good players.

"We need to go there and try to win it. We don't need to think about the fact they have a new manager.

"Their results have been negative but we were also in that position.

"We know Lewis Grabban is a good player. We know what he can do and what he can't do.

"But it's not about one player."