BRIAN McDermott held clear-the-air talks with Paul McShane and Danny Williams yesterday following an on-field bust-up at Middlesbrough, writes Anthony Smith.

Royals skipper McShane and midfielder Williams were involved in an ugly altercation towards the end of Tuesday night’s clash on Teeside.

The match was evenly poised at 1-1 after Simon Cox had cancelled out Emilio Nsue’s opener for Boro.

But the hosts went on to nick a 94th-minute winner through Adam Forshaw to go top of the Championship table.

The chief talking point after the match was the physical confrontation between McShane and Williams, who squared up to each other off the ball and had to be separated by team-mates.

The incident was widely condemned by angry Royals fans and the pair have been fined and disciplined by the club.

McDermott also confirmed he attempted to diffuse any lasting tension between his players.

The Reading manager said: “I’ve now had an opportunity to see back the footage of Tuesday night’s incident and I have talked with both Danny and Paul.

“It happened in the heat of the moment, during an extremely tight game against a very good Middlesbrough side. But I have reminded both players of their responsibilities to both the club and its supporters.”

McDermott said he missed the incident in real time and pointed out tempers often boil over in dressing rooms.

“I didn’t see it,” he insisted. “But, I do know that these guys want to win.

“I’ve seen players in dressing rooms that have won leagues [doing things] that you wouldn’t know about.

“I don’t really want to talk about it. That’s what winners do, they want to win. They were gutted at the end, we all were.”

Reading’s misery was compounded by the fact out-of-form Matej Vydra – with just three goals in 28 Championship games – missed a straight-forward chance to put Reading 2-1 in front in the 90th minute, moments before Forshaw scored Boro’s winner.

McDermott refused to single out the Czech Republic striker, saying: “We were unfortunate to come away empty-handed – football is a cruel game sometimes, as we know.

“We gave them a hell of a game and it’s a sickening blow to take. But we’ll be doing that to enough teams next season – I promise you.”

Reading travel to Elland Road this Saturday to take on a Leeds United side who beat Birmingham City 2-1 on Tuesday (3pm ko).

Wales international Chris Gunter is a fresh injury doubt after hobbling off in the first half at the Riverside with a suspected groin strain, with Andrew Taylor poised to step in.