Brian Howard has backed his central midfield partnership with Marek Matejovsky, after the duo made it three successive starts for the 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town.

The pair have proved to be an impressive creative force in recent weeks, and the former Sheffield United man is convinced that it could prove to be a winning combination - even if it is a slightly unconventional blend.

"There's a myth in football that you can't have two creative players in the middle of the park, and that you've got to have a terrier in there, but at the moment I think we're proving that we're working hard enough," he said.

"As long as we work hard then we've obviously got the ability to create chances and long may it continue."

Brendan Rodgers has named an unchanged team for the last two Royals fixtures; something which Howard believes is a result of some more consistent performances.

"At the moment our performances aren't that of a bottom three side, as long as we keep working hard and doing things right we won't be in there for long.

"The boys have got the shirts and they deserve to keep them at the moment, as long as we're doing well then we'll hopefully stay in the team and it's up to the other lads to take the shirts off us."

With many of the squad away from Hogwood over the international break there will be plenty of time to reflect on recent form - and the 26-year-old will be taking a lot of positives into his weekend away from league action.

"We've got two weeks to reflect now on the performances we've put in over the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of positives to take so we'll just work hard in training and there'll be smiles on the faces of the boys, we know we're doing well so hopefully we can take that into the busy Christmas period."