McD – ‘That was tough!’

The win over Plymouth was McDermott’s third in a row since taking permanent charge and banished memories of the 4-1 hammering against the Pilgrims at Home Park in December.


He told the official Reading Website, ‘That was the toughest game I have been involved in since taking charge, but I thought we deserved to win.’


There were a number of excellent performances not least from match winner Shane Long and McDermott has installed confidence in the Irish striker not seen since Steve Coppell first brought him into the first team set up. He was full of praise for the striker,


‘He’s fit and looking after himself, and he is confident. We’re seeing the player we knew we could and we are really pleased from him because he is a great guy.’


As well as the 15,484 fans inside the ground, McDermott knew just who would take the penalty when Hal Robson Kanu went down and Long converted in style, proving practise makes perfect!


‘Only one guy was going to take the penalty, he was quickest to the ball picked it up and was really confident he would score. He has been practising them.’


McDermott was pleased to keep his unbeaten run at home going with this result and admitted he ‘loves being here’ at the Madejski Stadium. He is clearly a very passionate man, loves this club and despite some initial doubts, I really think he can do this job.


Its not just him that is happy as well, everyone on the pitch is playing with a smile on their face’s and we have not seen this kind of confidence in a Reading team for a long while. Lets hope it continues…..