Five-star Royals let feet do talking

Anthony Smith • Published 27 Feb 2010 20:00 0 Comments

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Reach for the skies: Simon Church points to the heavens after his wonder goal for Reading against Sheffield Wednesday.

BRIAN McDermott admitted he was worried the Royals' dressing room was too quiet before his players went out and hammered Sheffield Wednesday 5-0.

The Reading boss revealed the pre-match mood was different and that hardly a word was said between squad members in the minutes before they romped to their biggest victory of the season to ease relegation fears in this must-win basement clash.

He felt the memorable extra-time FA Cup victory at West Brom on Wednesday night had sapped the energy out of his players' legs.

But it seems his concerns were unfounded as braces for Jimmy Kebe and Grzegorz Rasiak plas a superb Simon Church strike saw Royals secure their biggest win since, ironically, they thrashed the Owls 6-0 at home last season.

It was another proud moment for McDermott in an unforgettable week that also saw Royals reach the FA Cup quarter finals for the first time since 1927.

He explained: "That was a really big game today and I'm delighted to get the points. It's a marvellous result for this club."

"I was a little bit concerned after the game on Wednesday that we might be a bit quiet.

"They were a little bit quiet in the dressing room beforehand, but they were just focussed.

"They know they have to win games. We want to play good football too, and we did that today."

McDermott has sparked a dramatic turnaround in results at the Madejski Stadium.

The ground lost its fear-factor during an horrendous 11-month winless streak in the league.

But McDermott remains unbeaten at home in all competitions since he took over from Brendan Rodgers in December.

And he suggested their fiver-star display against the Owls harked back to the golden days of Steve Coppell when Royals steamrollered visiting teams on a regular basis.

"Today was a little bit like the old days," he suggested. "I thought we've had that away from home a couple of times - at West Brom on Wednesday night for example.

"I don't think there are any secrets to turning things around - we just don't look to far ahead, nor too far behind.

"We just look at what we've got to do in each individual game. I know I bore you with the same answer but it's true.

"But I thought the crowd were fabulous. They've enjoyed themselves and they can all have a good night tonight, I know I will."

Royals bossed the game from the first whistle but took until the 42nd minute to break the deadlock through Kebe's deflected 25-yard strike.

The floodgates burst open and Alan Irvine's visitors shipped another on the stroke of half-time when Church set up Rasiak.

Irvine rang the changes at the break - only for Church to net the third with the best goal of the game on 52 minutes with a curling left-footed drive from the edge of the box.

Wednesday did mount a token fightback but it amounted to little and Rasiak's simple tap-in on 65 minutes put the rampant hosts four up before Kebe smashed home the fifth in the 71st minute.

By then Royals fans were in ecstasy and all three subs - Church, Kebe and Gylfi Sigurdsson - left to a standing ovation.

It was Reading's fifth win in six Championship fixtures and left them 18th in the table and four points above the relegation zone.

The Owls, however, slipped into the bottom three and have lost four of their last five.

But McDermott insists the job is far from finished as they prepare to switch their attentions away from the league to an FA Cup quarter final against Aston Villa at home next Sunday (1.45pm ko).

"We are still down there and we have to get ourselves out of trouble," he declared. "The next opportunity we get to do that is against Derby

"But we've also got Aston Villa on Sunday. It's a game we can really look forward to and relish because we have an opportunity to get into the semi-finals of the FA Cup and to play at Wembley. That's the next goal."

The 5-0 victory was even more satisfying for McDermott after his squad was stretched to the limit.

Shane Long and Jobi Mcanuff were both suspended while Matt Mills and Brynjar Gunnarsson were injured.

And McDermott beamed: "I talked to the players about the importance of the squad.

"Jay Tabb has done a really good job in the last couple of games. He's not the biggest fella in the world, but he's got the biggest heart.

"Brian Howard did a great job in the middle. Jimmy Kebe scored two good goals again today and I was delighted with Grzegorz too. He's not had too many games recently and I spoke to him this week. He was a real physical presence.

"But they can all feel really proud of what's been achieved in the last couple of games."

Wednesday boss Irvine conceded: "That was unacceptable. We were a bit unlucky with the first goal but after that we caved in. "

Reading (4-4-2): Federici -Griffin (90), Khizanishvili, Ingimarsson, Bertrand - Kebe (Henry 72), Howard, Tabb, Sigurdsson (Matejovsky 79) - Church (Robson-Kanu 70), Rasiak. Subs not used: Hamer, Pearce, Bignall, Thorvaldsson.

Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Grant - Nolan, Hinds, Beevers, Spurr - Soares (Clarke 46), O'Connor (McAllister 75), Potter, Gray (Miller 46) - Tudgay, Varney. Sub not used: Boden, O'Donnell, Simek, Esajas.

Referee: Grant Hegley (Hertfordshire).

Attendance: 17,573 (S Wed: 1,784).

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