STEPPING up to the penalty spot in the 95th minute was a walk in the park for Reading FC's Danny Williams, writes Courtney Friday.

Mick McCarthy's Ipswich thought they had done enough to secure a point at Madejski Stadium on Friday night.

But Williams calmly slotted home a dramatic late penalty to seal a dramatic 2-1 victory for Jaap Stam's men in front of Sky Sports cameras.

With regular penalty taker, Garath McCleary, off the pitch after being subbed and having scored from the spot in the first half, it seemed no Reading player was willing to shoulder responsibility for the 95th minute spot kick after Joey Van Den Berg had been wrestled to the ground.

However, USA international Williams picked up the ball and placed it confidently on the spot.

Speaking after the game, Williams described how he kept his nerve to send Bartosz Bialkowski the wrong way, despite the Town keeper's antics on the line.

“Whoever knows me knows I don’t shy away from responsibility,” asserted Williams after marking his 100th league appearance for the club with the winning goal.

“I have played enough games in my career so I don’t want to shy away from these moments, I know Im one of the more experienced players so I was sure I wanted to take the penalty.

“I practice finishing in training all the time, if its a penalty or a first touch getting it out of your feet and shooting, I don’t always practice penalties in particular but I felt confident.

“Yann (Kermorgant) said to me he felt a bit tired, (John) Swift picked up the ball but I don’t think he felt 100 per cent. He’s done amazing for us so far and he’s probably been our player for the last few weeks.

“Even if I missed, I know I stepped up to take it. If another player took the penalty and missed I would never criticise them because they would have shown courage to take it.

“I had already picked which corner I was going to go for.”

Williams' late strike was not the first time the Royals had netted a last-gasp winner this season, after French striker Kermorgant found the net in the 89th minute against Cardiff City FC in Reading's previous game.

Williams declared that hard work under Jaap Stam's new 4-3-3 system on the training ground had started to pay off, and the 11 new faces in the squad had become valued additions to the team.

"It’s always good to have back to back wins,”  he continued.

“Last season we conceded a lot of goals in the last minutes or seconds of games, so it is always good to be scoring in the last minute instead.

“We have to keep building on our home form, because if you play well at home you can take that away from home.

“I think the more we play together, the more we train together then the more it (the new system) works.

“We got 11 new players over the summer so that takes time to gel. Rome wasn’t built in a day is what I always say.

"If the lads keep working hard and trusting the philosophy that the gaffer wants us to play then I think the fans will enjoy what they are going to see in the future.”

Reading, 11th in the table, are back in Championship action at Madejski Stadium tonight when they host fourth-placed Birmingham City (8pm ko).

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