Winger speaks of the ‘Adkins buzz’

Nigel Adkins is clearly having an impact on the players, with Reading winger Garath McCleary claiming there is a buzz among the squad when he is present.

The 25-year old was given his first start under the new boss against Liverpool and it was a fantastic performance for the Royals, especially from goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. McCleary also paid credit to the sell-out crowd at the Madejski Stadium, who drove their team on to their first cleansheet in 12 games and a possibly crucial point.

Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, McCleary said: “It`s a real buzz when he`s around. We`re playing a good style of football, we`re looking to pass out from the back and hopefully the good football can bring some points our way. Saturday was a good team performance – and Alex McCarthy was outstanding.’

‘The fans got behind us today, I thought we improved, so as I`ve said before and I`ll say again, anything is possible. We can still do it. They could be the 12th man, today they were fantastic. It was the best I`ve heard here. We all know anything is possible so we want to carry on this performance next week and get some points.”

It’s good to see that the players have great respect for Nigel Adkins and are enjoying his philosophy of football, that was clear to see on Saturday. In terms of McCleary, he had a decent game, but was invisible in the first half. I can see him having a big season in the Championship next season.

Wiki page: Nigel Adkins