BRIAN McDermott praised his players' attitude after knocking 10-man Huddersfield Town out of the FA Cup – but he admitted Jonathan Hogg's sending off was a 'big moment' in the game.

Royals fought back from 2-0 down to win 5-2 thanks to a second-half hat-trick from Matej Vydra.

But the turning points came when Hogg was punished with a straight red card for bundling over Vydra just outside the box.

Royals, trailing 2-0 at that point after early goals from Jamie Paterson and Tommy Smith, pulled one back immediately when Lucas Piazon curled home the resulting free kick.

Vydra then rattled in three goals after the break for the first hat-trick of his professional career before Alex Fernandez opened his Royals account with an injury-time fifth.

McDermott said: "That's how you play against ten men.

"We had to be patient but we passed it well, made things happen and we could have scored more than five to be honest.

"You look back at the first 20 minutes, it wasn't good, we weren't at it.
"We have to better than that first 20 minutes, we know that. Huddersfield are a good team, we knew that from the first game at their place.

“They played well, but their player was rightly sent off for fouling Matej Vydra after a great bit of skill.

"I'd have to agree that the sending off was a big moment, then Lucas put the ball in the top corner, a terrific free kick which got us on our way straight after the red card.

"The fans were terrific, they stayed patient. You can get frustrated when you're 2-0 down at home, and we don't want to be going behind.

“We want to make sure we're more resilient than that. We came through it and got through to the next round."

Tuesday's night victory went a long way to enhancing Vydra's reputation amongst Royals fans.

McDermott added: "Matej got himself a hat-trick and I was delighted for him.
“Him winning that free-kick was the turning point and Lucas putting the free kick away - we see him do that in training all the time.

"Matej works his socks off, he's never hidden, he's always working hard. If he misses chances, I just said, 'Don't worry about it. You're a proven scorer. Play with a smile on your face, and if you miss chances, who cares? It's not an issue.

"He's a good guy and I speak to him regularly. I don't need to speak up for him. His performances speak for themselves. He really wants to do well. He's got the matchball and I'm absolutely delighted for him."

Reading, semi finalists last season, will now host League One Walsall in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, January 30 (3pm ko).

As a result, Royals' league fixture at Ipswich Town has been postponed until Tuesday, February 2 (7.45pm ko).