Reading manager Brian McDermott has heaped praise on Jason Roberts after another fine display in his side's 3-1 win over Leicester.
Boss chased striker for years, Pearson threatens to make changes
Reading manager Brian McDermott has heaped praise on Jason Roberts after another fine display in his side's 3-1 win over Leicester on Saturday.
The 34-year-old scored his fourth goal for the club in the win at the Madejski Stadium, with strikes from Mikele Leigertwood and Simon Church sealing the points
It was the Royals' eighth win in a row and means Roberts has won every game he has played for the club since signing from Blackburn in January - a club record.
That form has seen them draw level on points with second-placed West Ham and means they are now just three behind leaders Southampton - with a game in hand.
Speaking after the game McDermott revealed he had been tracking Roberts for a long time but was also quick to point out their fine run of form began before the Grenadian's arrival.
"Jason is a really good guy off the pitch as well as on and a big influence around the place," said McDermott.
Debut
"I saw him make his debut as a non-league player at Hayes and have wanted him ever since.
"We have won 13 of the last 15 and that shows how well the whole team is doing."
Meanwhile, Leicester manager Nigel Pearson was left to rue a poor first half display from his side and revealed he may make changes to his starting XI in the coming weeks in order to keep the Foxes' fading play-off hopes alive.
"Reading are good team in a rich vein of form but we contributed to our own downfall today," he said
"We need to start games better. The annoying thing is that we have caused problems by not applying ourselves in the right way in the first half. I will have to consider making changes.
"To make the play-offs now is a massive task. We have had two games this week where we have contributed massively to our own downfall. Today I am unhappy about the way we have gone about the game.
"There's a lot of hard work to be done because that was not good enough and I will be demanding a reaction in our next game against Birmingham."
