JAAP Stam admitted it will be 'very hard' for Reading FC to finish in the play-offs after his side's gutsy 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday.

Goals from Yann Kermorgant and skipper Paul McShane ended a run of back-to-back Championship defeats to Huddersfield and Brighton after Ben Marshall had drawn Wolves level.

It means Reading held on to fifth in the table and still hold a seven-point lead over Fulham in seventh, though the Cottagers do have a game in hand.

Stam's men now face a testing run ahead including a home clash against leaders Newcastle United this Tuesday night (8pm ko) before fixtures against play-off rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds in the next few weeks.

Stam said: “In this period and with where we are in the league, going towards the end of the season, you need to win your points.

“We’re in the top six and we want to stay up there. We know it’s going to be very hard.

“Wolves came to get a result and they set up defensively in the first half. They grew in confidence when they got their equaliser in the second half, and they made it hard for us to defend in the box when they went forward.

“So we’re very happy with the three points. We would like to have a better feeling about the game overall and how we played, but at this moment and with where we are, points are very important.”

Royals rarely threatened a well-drilled Wolves in the first half but broke the deadlock three minutes after the break when Kermorgant showed sharp reflexes to divert a Danny Williams shot past Carl Ikeme for his ninth goal of the season.

Wolves levelled two minutes later when Marshall converted Nouha Dicko's cross, but Royals clinched the victory in the 78th minute thanks to McShane's clinical header from a John Swift free-kick.

Stam added: “By not playing good football in the second half, we still scored from a free-kick – and that’s a quality as well.

“We’ve got someone who can put the ball in the box with quality like Swifty, and we’ve got someone who can finish it off with a good header like McShane.

“Sometimes we need to understand that if we have problems in keeping the ball and we’re trying to play out from the back, then sometimes it’s a better solution to play more directly up to Yann and try to win that second ball.

“The players need to see that themselves when they are in the game. But the players have worked very hard and it’s tough because the pitch is heavy.

“But we got the result and that’s the most important thing.”

The win was Reading's 12th at Madejski Stadium in the league this season, while relegation-haunted Wolves have now lost five Championship games in a row.

But their manager Paul Lambert argued their luck was out on Saturday and that a number of key decisions went against them.

The Scotsman suggested Wolves should have had a penalty in the the first half when a Helder Costa shot appeared to strike Liam Moore's arm and that Romain Saiss header from the resulting corner had gone over the line before Ali Al-Habsi could scoop the ball away.

To compound Wolves frustration, Lambert also felt McShane was offside when he headed in the winning goal 12 minutes from time.

“In the first half we had the two best chances and should have had a stonewall penalty and then a header which looked over the line,” he said.

“The first goal was a shot which wasn’t going anywhere before a wicked deflection and that just seems to be happening against us when we are down there.

“I think Carl could have thrown his hat on the shot but it was deflected in.

“We got ourselves back into the game and then we lose a goal which was offside.

“I have spoken with Andrew (Madley) the referee after the game and I think it was a big call to miss.

“Andrew is a really good referee but I think there are some big calls that have gone against us.”

However, Stam also suggested there was hint of handball in the build-up to Marshall's equaliser for Wolves.

Stam: “You score that goal but they get one back straight after,” said the Dutchman. “They blocked the ball forward with a hand and I think the referee can give that as a hand-ball. He didn’t do it, and I think we can still defend better.”

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