SONE Aluko has urged Reading FC to continue their winning form to keep the pressure off boss Jaap Stam.

Royals look to have put a run of four defeats in five Championship matches well and truly behind them after back-to-back victories over Nottingham Forest and Derby County.

Stam’s position at the helm had come into question following one win in their previous eight games, leaving Royals languishing near the relegation zone.

But the 45-year-old Dutchman appears to have turned things around as two outstanding team performances delivered a 3-1 home win over Forest last week and 4-2 success at Derby on Saturday.

And Aluko, who scored in both of those games, urged his teammates to stand up and be counted and make sure Stam gets the plaudits he deserves.

“I block out that noise,” stressed Aluko in relation to recent Stam criticism. “It doesn’t help the team and it doesn’t help the manager.

“We just focus on what we have to do and that is to win games.

“If we keep doing that and we keep putting on great performances then his job will be secure.

“Obviously in football there will always be talk, no one is surprised by that.

“The most important things is to win games for him after what he did last year and the kind of manager that he is.

“He’s a big part of the reason I came here and it wouldn’t be a sensible decision to sack him.”

Reading Chronicle:

Reading manager Jaap Stam.

Royals now have a two-week break to work on their tactics, while some of Stam’s squad link-up with their international team-mates.

And 28-year-old Aluko wants Royals to build on their recent performances when they return for a home clash against leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 18.

“It’s something to build on,” asserted the club-record signing from Fulham. “We know we have set benchmark so we have to work from that and improve on it.

“There are some tough games coming up.

“Finishing on a win lifts the whole mood of the training ground, the players and the staff.

“We could always pull out results like this and we were disappointed that we hadn’t been doing it.

“It (the form) has been coming but we have always had that capability.”