Gigantic A big big win ! Saints dug in and gort a deserved victory that pushes them up the league.

With Gaston Ramirez understandably tired after a trip home to Uruguay, Nigel Adkins was forced into a change or two both in personel and in tactics, Kelvin Davis was back in goal due to an injury to Gazzaniga and Jay Rodriguez came in for Ramirez and was pushed up to his true position up front alongside Rickie Lambert in a 4-4-2 formation.

Reading's gameplan was obvious from the start and from my limited viewings of them seems to be the same in most games, keep in tight at the back and look to go on the break and win set pieces in and around the opposition area and the game soon settled into this patter with Saints on the front foot and Reading pushed back, Rickie Lambert had a decent effort saved by Federrici although in fairness the keeper probably made it look more spectacular than it was, Saints looked to have scored when Jason Puncheon headed home a great corner art the far post, but the referee gave a free kick for a fould by Yoshida, having watched the replay, Yoshida did nothing other than being pushed by the keeper who then slipped, the goal should have stood.

But Saints didnt have it all their way in the first half and Reading gave warning about how they play and what they can do, firstly Tabb saw a shot saved by Davis and as he went for the rebound appeared to have been tripped by Cork, replays were a little inconclusive but I have seen them given for less.

Perhaps Saints biggest scare came virtually on the stroke of half time when Robson-Kanu was left unmarked six yards out, luckily he hit the post when it seemed easier to score, this was a real warning shot to Saints that if we werent careful we could throw the game away as we did in the fixture last season.

In the second half however Saints took control and after taking the lead 15 minutes after the break never looked like losing it, marshalling Roberts and Le Fondre well up front and controlling the midfield, the only thing we lacked was a second to make the game safe and so not subject us to a few heart in mouth moments in the final minutes when Reading seemed to win a succession of free kicks that enabled them to put the ball into the area, on reflection they were poor efforts well dealt with, it didnt seem like that at the time.

In conclusion Saints did what they had to do in a game where the result was always going to be far far more important than the game itself, like many of our victories its hard to pick a man of the match, in truth every man from the goalkeeper to Guly the final substitution put a shift in and did their job and did it well.

We shouldnt get too carried away, after all this is QPR aside the worst team we have faced this season and there will be far tougher games ahead, yes we did ride our luck at crucial moments but we can only beat what is put in front of us and this was a vital win that puts real daylight between us and Reading, it gives hope that we have put our bad days behind us and that if Nigel Adkins keeps learning and we strengthen in January then there is no reason why we cant win this relegation dogfight, but lets be brutally realistic its far from over yet and we cant afford complacency.    

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 11:23 - Dec 9 You are right Nick we shouldn't get complacent, but this goes to prove what most of us have known all season. This is a young and inexperienced team, but there's no doubt we have the quality. Clyne, Shaw, Lallana, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Schneiderlin and Cork in particular are players with huge futures in the game. As you'd expect with quality players they have learned from mistakes in previous games and are adapting. Too many fans were far too critical of the team and management when everyone knew we were destined for a baptism of fire. In games we were expected to do well, with the exception of Wigan, we generally have. If we can prepare well for Sunderland and get another three points there maybe we can enjoy the second half to the season a little more and fans can too and stop talking about how life in the Championship was more enjoyable. I'm personally not one for trying to talk up being the big fish in a smaller pond. Where's the ambition there? COYR!!

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landsdownsaint added 11:54 - Dec 9 I thought we were very good yesterday,Yoshida & Fonte are getting better every game and KD bought more confidence at the back , Guly come on and showed us what a good player he is,Ricky looked knackered 20mins from the end ..would have been nice to see Mayuka come on
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bstokesaint added 11:59 - Dec 9 Yeah, I agree Landsdown I think Yoshida and Fonte have formed a decent pairing at the back and wised up the defence. It was also great to have Kelvin back in the team. Gazza might be one for the future, but at this moment in time Kelvin for me is the more dependable. I'm not sure why Mayuka is so out of favour. When he came on against Spurs he was lively and really caused the Spurs defence some issues.

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landsdownsaint added 12:01 - Dec 9 There should be a mention about the ref who was terrible,the refs we are getting are causing us problems imo
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slynch added 12:22 - Dec 9 You are right about Reading’s game plan. And I think that Hooi should have been in, instead of Yosh and as you noted, the defence, as a consequence, only partially dealt with the aerial threat. Still, Adkins sees them in training and probably knows best. However, what I think I would have noted in a report of the match was that it was probably the most one-sided 1-0 game I have ever seen: Possession 60/40, shots 17/6, corners 7/4, goalkicks 5/13. 3-1 would probably have been a better representation of the match. I would also add that Shaw has quietly made a huge difference, and the team would be back in trouble without him. To indicate his impact, the only time there was ever a threat from the left was when he swopped roles with Yosh or Cork. Davis played better. Non of that compulsory rolling it out to nearest defender he seemed to be forced to do at one point. And Punch was highly effective; few fancy tricks just plain old, “they don’t like it up ‘em, Mr Mainwaring” football. In my Xmas (January) Stocking please, Santa - a reserve LB, first team CB and a first team CH who can head the ball. HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, SAINTS’ ARE MID TABLE!

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Whatsforpud added 12:50 - Dec 9 By the time we play next, Reading and Sunderland will have played twice more, so the table might look a little more squeezed than now. Good solid performance against Reading, perhaps one of our rare 1-0 wins. Although Davis didn't have a great amount to do, his catching in the first half,and a decent punch-out in the second, gave those in front of him some confidence. There is a good understanding being built up between Clyne and Puncheon. Shaw had a good game, and is now getting the confidence to go forward more as a wing back, as opposed to being just a conventional left back.

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Scummer added 14:20 - Dec 9 Huge result, and helped to correct the travesty of a result from last year that robbed us of the title. Some quick, slick passing moves at times and very rarely looked troubled at the back. Clyne and Shaw are good quick full backs and Maya and Fonte (now back to his best) are looking stronger week by week. Ramirez did look tired when he came on. Guly on the other hand really helped to close the game out, showing some good skill and vision. Quick mention for Jay Tabb. He could easily have made a real fuss when Cork made contact, but he didn't. Credit to him for that. Roll on Sunderland!

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WestEndBoy added 14:33 - Dec 9 Cork has been like a new signing.Interesting to read in the Sun today that we have covered the most ground in the Premier league and Schneiderlin has covered more ground than any other player.I think them two in the middle are going to be so important for us.
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legod7 added 14:35 - Dec 9 Scummer, Re. your mention of Jay Tabb. He seemed to me the only Reading player who looked anything like a Premiership player. The rest seemed average Championship quality.
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kingslandstand1 added 17:39 - Dec 9 And Tabb was taken off :-)
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SingaporeSaint added 03:52 - Dec 10 Important win. We were totally in control in midfield - Schneiderlin again was central to this. He has covered more ground than anyone else in the league according to the stats and he wins and keeps so much ball. I'd be worried about him being poached - If I was Fergie I'd be after him, He's that good. Punch was excellent again - he looks so much better and quicker than in previous seasons and if that is due to his attitute then well done to all concerned. Shaw has made a massive difference to the back 4 who look a unit due to him - the stats this season before Shaw and after Shaw are interesting reading. The negatives were up front - we dominated a game but didnt look very threatening. J Rod has again not showed enough and he doesnt seem to work well with Lambert. I see we are again linked with Hooper. Although I wanted Mayuka on I thought Do Prado did well for his 15 mins and made a difference. An important win, but Reading were poor and made a couple of very decent chances (and hit the post), we need more from our strikers to put these games to bed and we should be planning the return trips to Anfield etc next season. Hope Adam is ok, didnt look great at the time but hope its just a strain.

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Scummer added 09:32 - Dec 10 Fourth in the form table: http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/form-guide.html 15 points from 16 games sounds a lot better than where we were at the start of November. Need to keep the focus on the defense and those points will keep coming. Sunderland are no pushovers but if we can snuff them out then I think we have enough about us at home to get all three points again.

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scummerlou added 10:53 - Dec 10 A vital and well deserved win on Saturday, with all players contributing to the 3 pts. Quite a few mentions on here about reasons for the improvements over the past few games, IMO, its been down to the inclusion of Cork and Shaw. Cork, has given the defence the screen required for the defence whilst JF and Maya develop their partnership. LS has also lived up to his hype, solid in tackle and good range of passing, this lad must be older than his passport states!!! Wrt Jay Tabb, was it just me or did he look like a wee Subbuteo player out on the pitch? And what was Alan Shearer smoking on MOTD on saturday night...after he claimed to have single handedly sorted out Fernando Torres and his goal drought, he then claimed the Saints "probably jst about shaded the game" !!!

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