Monday 27 October 2014 10:11, UK
Reading manager Nigel Adkins praised his players for their persistence after a six-match winless run in the Championship ended with a 3-0 victory over bottom club Blackpool at the Madejski Stadium.
The Royals had conceded three goals in four of their previous five matches and focused on keeping things tight at the start, before Glenn Murray nodded in his fourth goal of the season to put them in front after 23 minutes.
Blackpool skipper Peter Clarke then put through his own net to double Reading's lead with 20 minutes remaining and substitute Nick Blackman scored a spot-kick after being hauled down in the box by John Lundstram.
"The last few results have gone against us and although we've played some good football in those games, it's all about results," Adkins said. "But the players have responded to that really well. We've scored three goals, kept that all-important clean sheet and we've got three points on the board.
"We've got many youngsters in the team who are gaining so much valuable experience. Sometimes the hard way because some of their mistakes have resulted in goals. But they keep working very hard and did so again today.
"Sometimes it can get that little bit edgy. That was probably how the game was to start off with. But we had that steel and determination today, everyone was hanging in there and we got a good result."
Jose Riga's Blackpool almost found a way back into the game early in the second half as Clarke narrowly failed to get on the end of Lundstram's free kick into the box and Adam Federici pulled off a fine save to deny Ishmael Miller.
Even after going two down the Seasiders threatened, with Miller hitting a post before Blackman gave the scoreline a flattering sheen for the Royals in stoppage time.
But Riga, who was without several key players due to injuries and suspension, was still disappointed with his team's display.
He said: "When you have important players missing, you have to find the right solution. We didn't.
"The team must compete for most of the game. You must be solid. But I did not see anything like that today. I did not see enough commitment, collaboration or accuracy in the game. We allowed Reading to put us in difficulty.
"We have to do 10 times more work than other teams to compete. But if we do less, we can't hope to get a result. There were no excuses today."
