Reading 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday: Jaap Stam and Carlos Carvalhal reaction
Saturday 10 December 2016 20:58, UK
Reading manager Jaap Stam has warned his players to ignore the glamorous FA Cup third-round tie against his club Manchester United at Old Trafford next month.
After the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Stam revealed that he wants his team to concentrate more on their form in the Championship, in which they lie third.
"We haven't even spoken to the team about the draw," Stam said. "It's not even relevant to speak about it because it's in about a month or so.
"We still need to play five games in the league before we play that game with United. So for us, it's no discussion. We're not even going to be thinking about it or talking about it.
"The league at the moment is much more important for us than the game against United. Our focus is on the games that we need to do well in the league."
Stam was pleased with the win over Wednesday after the previous 5-0 defeat at Fulham.
"It's all about how well you perform in the long run and not in certain games only," he said.
"We were not happy after that game [at Fulham] and how we performed. But that sometimes makes you aware of what you need to do if you are going to get results in the Championship. That's what we did today."
A drab first half produced little of note, apart from a flying save from home goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi to keep out a fierce 20-yard effort from Ross Wallace.
Lucas Joao should have put Wednesday ahead early in the second half but, after racing clear and with Al Habsi wrongfooted, he somehow shot wide of a post.
Beerens then struck twice in 19 minutes - his first goal deflecting in wildly off Glenn Loovens, his second a clever cross-shot.
Wednesday launched a late rally but had only a far-post header from Steven Fletcher, in the second minute of stoppage time, to show for their efforts.
Carlos Carvalhal, the Wednesday head coach, saw his team's two-match winning run come to an end.
"There is a saying 'if you don't kill, you can die'," Carvalhal said. "And that's what happened today.
"We prepared very well for the game and we closed down Reading very well. I don't remember any problem for us in the first half.
"We have another part to our game. When we have the ball, we try to be a threat and try to score.
"We had a clear chance in the second half [Joao], probably the best clear chance of the game. But we didn't shoot the goal.
"After their second goal, it was a different situation. Our players never gave up and we felt we could have won this because of what we did.
"In my opinion, we were more threat to them than they were to us. It's important in these games that when you control them, you must score."
