NIGEL Gibbs says it is down to the players who helped Reading FC beat Hull City to cement their place in the team.

Boss Paul Clement made four changes on Saturday as Royals defeated Nigel Adkins’ Tigers 3-0 for their first home win of the season.

John O’Shea, new loan signing Saeid Ezatolahi and on-loan Southampton winger Josh Sims were all handed their Championship debuts, top scorer Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came in while Chris Gunter, Sone Aluko, John Swift and Yakou Meite were dropped to the bench.

The changes made a massive difference as Reading were almost unrecognisable from the side that crashed to a lame 2-1 home defeat to Norwich City a few days earlier.

Bodvarsson was on the scoresheet with his fifth goal of the campaign, while O’Shea helped keep a first clean sheet of the season before being sent off late on.

Gibbs said: "You are always looking for the right balance and keep team selection stable.

"Josh Sims came in and did very well, he carries the ball well for the team.

"There were some very good performances and it's up to those players to keep the shirt now and keep consistently playing well.”

Reading Chronicle:

Paul Clement and Hull City manager and ex-Reading boss, Nigel Adkins, look on from the sidelines.

Clement did not pull his punches after last week’s loss to the Canaries – Reading’s fourth home defeat in a row - and blamed his players for lacking effort during a woeful first half.

But they were up for the battle from the get-go on Saturday, and Gibbs was delighted with the reaction.

“You get given nothing in this league, you have to fight for everything,” he admitted. "That's what the manager was alluding to after the Norwich game.

"We knew we had to perform because we didn't do that for 90 minutes against Norwich. We were straight back to work on Thursday and we spent a lot of time speaking to the players.

"We wanted to bring some fresh bodies in.

"They're a good group to work with and it's about making sure their minds are always on the game.

"They are good players, but it's all about being consistent with performances like the manager says.

"You saw that on Saturday. If we get the basics right, we can put in good performances and get results."

Reading Chronicle:

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson put Reading 2-0 ahead against Hull.

Despite the poor performance against Norwich, Reading have now won two of their last three games to move out of the Championship relegation zone.

Clement’s men travel to seventh-placed Brentford this Saturday where Reading have already sold their 1,700 ticket allocation.

And Gibbs, who took over media duties on Saturday, stated: "We're looking forward now and will try and move up that table.

"It's a start, it's a first home win this season and that's all it is.

"It's been a busy period so now we can look forward to a good week's training before another tough game away from home.

"But our away form hasn't been too bad so we need to follow that up, especially in the next home game here, we need another good performance."

Reading Chronicle:

Andy Yiadom makes it 3-0.