Reading manager Brian McDermott had praise for his side after watching them beat Blackpool 3-1.
Holloway rues lapse defending from his Pool side
Reading manager Brian McDermott praised the way his side responded to their midweek defeat at Peterborough to consolidate second place in the Championship with a 3-1 victory over Blackpool.
The Royals seized the initiative early on and went ahead with goals from Ian Harte and Alex Pearce, Harte from close range and Pearce with a header.
At that point it was one-way traffic but Blackpool gained some hope with a spectacular 30-yard goal from Lomana LuaLua.
On the hour Reading restored their two-goal lead with a header from Mikele Leigertwood and then eased their way to a deserved win to dent Blackpool's own play-off hopes.
It saw the hosts ease four points ahead of third-placed West Ham although they have played a game more than the Hammers.
McDermott was impressed by his side's reaction to their setback at Peterborough and he said: "It was a great response and performance from the lads after Tuesday's defeat. I felt a real sense among them to go out there and get it right.
"We had a chat on Thursday because we needed a real focus when we had eight games to go. We are all on the same page and all want to do well."
Reading's next match is at West Ham with McDermott relishing the visit to Upton Park in a week's time.
He said: "Now I am really looking forward to the visit to West Ham. It's a mouth-watering game. Sam Allardyce is a great manager and Wally Downes is a friend of ours.
"Looking back over the last 32 games we have got something like 69 points so that would put us top of the league. At the start of the season it took us six games to get going.
"Jason Roberts has got a chance for Saturday. His hamstring injury is not as bad as we first thought. The postponing of the Doncaster game didn't help us because then we had three away games on the trot."
Blackpool perspective
Opposite number Ian Holloway bemoaned his side's defending, saying: "I am not in a very good mood. "This time of the year you have got to get all aspects of the game right and they did the main things better than us.
"We were a bunch of statues when they scored their goals, particularly the third one. I have had some under-10's defend set-pieces better than that.
"Without Jason Roberts in their team I thought we had a decent chance because he is very influential for them, but we didn't quite get going.
"We did lots of things well between the two boxes but the most important thing is what you do in their box or your box. It's very disappointing we have got to do things better than that.
"Very rarely have they let me down. Reading are on a roll and looking very dangerous but take the set pieces out and we could have won 1-0.
"I am confident saying that we won't now get automatic promotion. You won't get anything by waiting for it. You have to go and get it. We can't let goals in like that and be happy."
