Sky Bet Championship: Steve McClaren full of praise for Chris Martin

Derby manager Steve McClaren has backed prolific striker Chris Martin to power the club back into the Barclays Premier League after their near-miss in the play-off final last season.

Martin scored twice in the 3-0 victory over Reading at the Madejski Stadium, taking his tally to nine goals for the season as Derby moved into second place in the Championship and stretched their unbeaten record to 11 games in all competitions.

"With the talent that Chris has got around him, they'll create for him," McClaren said. "He's just got to finish, which he's done.

"He could have scored a hat-trick, he should be walking home with the ball.

"He got a lot of goals last season and there's always a question mark as to if he can continue that. But he's doing that. He's really developed over the last year in terms of his professionalism and belief.

"There's not a bad team in the Championship and, against Reading, we had to dig in in the first 20 minutes. But we got through it, we survived, and then we opened them up and scored. The second half was all about control."

Although Reading opened promisingly, Derby soaked up the pressure and went ahead in the 18th minute, when Martin was allowed a free header from Jamie Ward's corner and the ball went over the goalline off the body of Hal Robson-Kanu.

Reading responded well. Jake Taylor forced a fine save from Derby goalkeeper Lee Grant from a fierce drive, and Glenn Murray nodded against the crossbar from an Oliver Norwood corner.

It was a lucky let-off for Derby and they took full advantage of it, increasing their lead in the 38th minute. Jordon Ibe, the on-loan winger from Liverpool, cut in from the left flank and cleverly guided a low shot past home goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Although flattered by the scoreline at half-time, Derby attempted to stretch their lead further after the break. Martin forced a smart save from Federici and then blazed another effort over after a goalmouth scramble.

Reading still dictated much of the play but could find no way through. Nick Blackman shot high and wide and then fellow substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak missed an open goal after Blackman's effort had been saved by Grant.

Derby soaked up the pressure reasonably comfortably and broke away in the 79th minute to settle the outcome. Martin jockeyed on the edge of the home area before planting a crisp shot past Federici.

Reading have now failed to win in six matches in all competitions, much to the disappointment of Royals manager Nigel Adkins.

"We started brightly and were getting balls into the final third," he said. "But at 2-0 down, the whole complexion of the game changed.

"It's all about what you do in both penalty areas. You've got to be ruthless in one and resilient in the other. But for all the positive stuff going on for us, it's a bad scoreline.

"You can't hide away from that or gloss over it because it's about winning games of football. You can't concede the goals we've conceded. It's becoming a repetitive theme and we've got to sort it out."