Player Ratings – Norwich (H)

Vital Reading takes a look at the players’ individual performances from the 2-1 victory over Norwich on Sunday.

Vital Reading takes a look at the players’ individual performances from the 2-1 victory over Norwich on Sunday. First half goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Simon Cox sealed Steve Clarke’s first three points as Reading manager.

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Adam Federici – 6 – Quiet game for Feds on the whole. He couldn`t do anything about the goal and his distribution was fine.

Chris Gunter – 7 – Another good game from Gunter, who seems to be one of the many players excelling under Clarke. He dealt with Redmond and Johnson on his side and linked up superbly with McCleary again.

Alex Pearce – 7 – Pearcey did not put a foot wrong all game and doesn`t seem to be fazed with the extra responsibility of being skipper.

Michael Hector – 8 – A shaky start to the game by switching off for Hooper`s chance, but the next 88 minutes, he was superb. Big Hec won the majority of his aerial battles and kept Hooper & Jerome quiet throughout. Some could question his distribution, but Murray can use it as an advantage.

Jordan Obita – 7 – Good game from Obita, who did his defensive duties with no issues and was a problem for Norwich going forward. The only criticism was that he got caught out positionally late on when we were stretched, but HRK should take some of the blame for that, albeit minor.

Oliver Norwood – 7 – Typical Norwood performance – kept the ball moving quickly at a high tempo, which really helped us stretch Norwich in the second half. Off the ball he was a nuisance as well, making challenges and interceptions.

Danny Williams – 8 – Man of the Match – It seems it was a unanimous decision for Williams to be MOTM, the first signs of him being back to his best. His energy in the midfield was pivotal to how we approached the game and I lost count of how many challenges we won in our defensive third.

Garath McCleary – 6 – The game seemed to pass McCleary by, who fell into his usual trap of coming too narrow and being unable to affect the game. He came off injured, but will hopefully be OK for Huddersfield.

Simon Cox – 7 – Superb workrate from the local boy, who is obviously relishing being back home at the Madejski. Great touch and finish for the goal, his eighth of the season.

Hal Robson-Kanu – 6 – Much improved showing from HRK, but still not enough quality that we know he can show. Good confidence to step up for the penalty and showed the odd moment of quality.

Glenn Murray – 7 – Most of the signs are saying this was probably his last game as a Reading player and this performance would summarise his time here well. Like the impact Roberts had in the 2011/12 season, he did the ugly side of the game – bullying defenders, running the channels, playing with his back to goal, etc. I`m not his biggest fan and still think we should consider other targets, but he put a good shift in during his short tenure here and I thank him for that.

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Jamie Mackie – 7 – Superb cameo appearance from the winger, who injected great energy on the right side, which McCleary struggled to do all game.

Danny Guthrie – 6 – Great to see him back out on the turf again and can probably be forgiven for looking slightly sluggish. He still made a few good interceptions though.

Nick Blackman – N/A – Wasn`t on long enough to have an impact, but with Murray heading back to Palace, we could be seeing Blackman as a central striker more often.