READING FC boss Steve Clarke refused to go overboard about his side's emphatic victory against Ipswich Town.
Royals thrashed Mick McCarthy's Ipswich 5-1 at Madejski Stadium on Friday night when Orlando Sa became the first player this season to score a hat-trick in the Championship.
In-form Nick Blackman and Oliver Norwood also found the net for the rampant  hosts, while a first-half strike from Freddie Sears was of little consolation to the visitors.
Reading remain unbeaten since the opening day of the season when they lost 2-1 at Birmingham City, but Clarke was eager to keep his players' feet on the ground.
He said: "It was a good performance, although it was only one performance.
“Nine points from six games is not something to be too carried away with.
“Obviously we're very pleased that we scored at home and pleased that we won. But it's important to put that to bed.
“We'd had two 0-0s at home beforehand. Supporters want to be entertained so they went home happy.”
Clarke, with 11 new signings in the summer, finally feels his side is beginning to gel.
"Anybody who looked at our results might have thought we'd had a slow start to the season, but I kept saying that we'd made a decent start,” he explained.
“We'd been solid and performances had been really good. Obviously Friday night was a different level of performance in terms of attacking, but we also had to show defensive resolve, especially in the first half, because Ipswich gave us a good game. 
"Second half we tweaked the system and I think that made a difference. At half time we said it was a big challenge.
“I sat [Aaron] Tshibola in front of the two centre halves to give them some protection and I think that helped us. Then the timing of the third goal from Nick was important, and after that we could pick them off."
After struggling for goals early on in the season, Reading have scored eight times in their last two fixtures including the 3-1 win at Brentford before the international break.
In addition to Sa, Clarke also signed Matej Vydra from Watford and Lucas Piazon from Chelsea to boost his side's firepower, and he was pleased with what he saw on Friday.
 "The front three were good and combined well,” he stated. “All three have been working with me since the transfer deadline, they've been in every day and in seven or eight sessions they've already picked up a good understanding, which is great for the future.
"It was a good counter-attacking performance, but we also scored first which opened the game up
“ It was a great cross from Nick and a terrific header from Orlando. Then we defended really badly for the equaliser which is not like us. I thought Ipswich in the first half put us under more pressure than any team has this season. 
"Orlando got his goals, he's been really good for us since he came in. His movement is good, he's a striker who needs support around him, dynamic players, and he had that in Vydra and Blackman, who both supported him very well.”
Reading host Derby County at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow night (8pm ko) and then travel to Bristol City this Saturday (3pm ko).
"Hopefully the supporters who saw us on the television will say they want to have a bit of this on Tuesday,” declared Clarke. “Derby will be up there at the end of the season.”